EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 


$  m 


EMINENT!  * 

OF 


EMI 


OJ 


BENJA1N|[N  |lARR<bw,  PH.D. 

Associated  Physiolojtical  Chemistry 


D.   VAN 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS 
OF  OUR  TIME- 


BY 


BENJAMIN  HARROW,  PH.D. 

Associate  in  Physiological  Chemistry 
Columbia  University 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
D.  VAN   NOSTRAND   COMPANY 

EIGHT   WARREN   STREET 
IQ20 


Copyright,  1920 
D.   VAN    NOSTRAND   COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

We  have  several  books  dealing  with  the  history  of 
chemistry;  there  are  a  number  of  biographies  of  pioneer 
chemists ;  but,  so  far  as  I  am  aware — and  this  includes 
books  in  French  and  German  as  well  as  in  English — 
the  chemists  of  our  time  have  been  ignored  completely. 
The  Dickenses  and  Thackerays  of  chemistry  have 
received  attention — not  any  too  much,  to  be  sure;  but 
the  moderns,  the  Anatole  Frances  and  Wells,  have 
received  none. 

To  fill  such  a  want  is  the  object  of  this  work.  How 
much  these  men  and  woman  who  are  here  treated  are 
of  our  time  may  be  gauged  from  the  following:  of  the 
eleven  whose  lives  and  work  are  discussed,  one  died  in 
1897  (through  suicide,  be  it  added);  three,  in  1907; 
one,  in  1911;  one,  in  1916;  one,  in  1919;  and  four  are 
still  alive. 

The  question  may  very  naturally  be  asked,  why  were 
just  these  eleven  selected?  To  this  I  would  answer, 
that,  with  the  historical  perspective  in  mind,  I  wished 
to  review  the  achievements  of  those  men  whose  work 
is  indissolubly  bound  up  with  the  progress  of  chemistry 
during  the  last  generation  or  so.  I  wished,  then,  to 
write  a  history  of  chemistry  of  our  times  by  centering  it 
around  some  of  its  leading  figures. 

This  book  aims  to  fill  the  wants  of  three  classes  of  men : 
i.  The  chemist  who  wishes  an  account  of  the  labors  of 


434858 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

some  of  the  most  iUustrious  men  in  his  profession. 

2.  The  scientist,  other  than  the  chemist,  who  desires 

information  in  a  closely  related  field.  What 
physicist  can  ignore  the  work  of  Mme.  Curie? 
What  biologist  or  medical  man  is  not  indebted  to 
van't  Hoff,  Arrhenius  and  Fischer?  And  how  has 
industry  profited  by  the  labors  of  Moissan  and 
Perkin!  These  instances  could  be  multiplied. 

3.  The  layman  who  wants  a  non-technical  account  of 

some  of  the  more  remarkable  achievements  in  a 
science  which  is  entering  more  and  more  into  our 
daily  lives. 

This  work  emphasizes  the  personal  side;  it  is  a 
"  human  document " ;  but  there  are  ample  references 
to,  and  discussions  of  noteworthy  achievements.  The 
book  is  so  written  that  any  layman,  without  any  previous 
knowledge  of  chemistry,  can  get  an  intelligent  idea  of 
the  man  and  his  work. 

Without  generous  help  from  many  quarters  a  work  of 
this  kind  would  be  quite  impossible.  I  wish  here  to 
express  my  special  indebtedness  to  the  following :  Dr.  H. 
Arctowski,  N.  Y.  Public  Library;  Prof.  Svante  Arrhenius, 
Nobel  Institute,  Stockholm,  Sweden;  Prof.  W.  D.  Ban- 
croft, Cornell  Univ. ;  Prof.  Ernst  Cohen,  Univ.  of  Utrecht, 
Holland;  Madame  M.  Curie,  Curie  Laboratory,  Paris, 
France ;  Prof.  Jacques  Loeb,  Rockefeller  Institute,  N.  Y. ; 
Prof.  W.  H.  Perkin,  Oxford  Univ.,  England;  Prof.  Ira 
Remsen,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.;  and  Prof.  T.  W.  Rich- 
ards, Harvard  Univ.  I  am  particularly  indebted  to  my 
teachers  and  friends,  Prof.  W.  J.  Gies,  Columbia  Univ., 

vi 


PREFACE 

and  the  late  Prof.  R.  Meldola,  Finsbury  College,  London, 
England;  to  my  colleagues,  Dr.  E.  G.  Miller,  Jr., 
Columbia  Univ.,  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Whitsit,  De  Witt  Clinton 
High  School,  N.  Y. ;  and  to  my  wife. 

I  wish  also  to  thank  the  editors  of  Science,  the  Journal 
of  the  Franklin  Institute  and  Scientific  Monthly  for 
permission  to  reprint  some  of  the  articles.1 

BENJAMIN  HARROW 

New  York,  1920. 


1  The  work  as  originally  written  consisted  of  two  parts:  the 
"  lives  "  (which  constitutes  the  present  volume)  and  the  "  work." 
The  latter  was  an  exhaustive  review  of  the  scientific  work  of  the 
chemists  under  discussion.  Complete  bibliographies  were  ap- 
pended to  each  article.  However,  as  my  intention  was  to  write  a 
popular  volume,  and  as  the  second  portion  dealing  with  the 
"  work  "  would  have  unduly  enlarged  the  book,  I  decided  to  post- 
pone publishing  this  part  for  the  present. 

vii 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction xi 

Perkin  and  Coal-Tar  Dyes i 

Mendeleeff  and  the  Periodic  Law 19 

Ramsay  and  the  Gases  of  the  Atmosphere 41 

Richards  and  Atomic  Weights 59 

van't  Hoff  and  Physical  Chemistry 79 

Arrhenius  and  the  Theory  of  Electrolytic  Disso- 
ciation    in 

Moissan  and  the  Electric  Furnace 135 

Madame  Curie  and  Radium 155 

Victor  Meyer  and  the  Rise  of  Organic  Chemistry .  177 

Remsen  and  the  Rise  of  Chemistry  in  America. . . .  197 

Fischer  and  the  Chemistry  of  Foods 217 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Several  eminent  chemists Frontispiece 

W.  H.  Perkin opposite  i 

Perkin's  apparatus  for  determining  optical  activity 

opposite  12 

D.  Mendeleeff opposite  19 

Periodic  table 27 

William  Ramsay opposite  41 

Ramsay's   apparatus   for   the   isolation   of   argon 

opposite  48 

T.  W.  Richards opposite  59 

Relation  of  the  atomic  weights  of  the  elements  to 

other  properties opposite  71 

A  room  in  the  Wolcott  Gibbs  Laboratory,  Harvard 

opposite  73 

J.  H.  Van't  Hoff opposite  79 

Van't  Hoff  and  Ostwald opposite  92 

Svante  Arrhenius opposite  in 

Henri  Moissan opposite  135 

Moissan's  apparatus  for  preparing  Fluorine  and  his 

electric  Furnace opposite  146 

Madame  M.  Curie opposite  155 

P.  Curie opposite  169 

Victor  Meyer opposite  177 

V.  Meyer's  apparatus  for  determining  vapor  density 

opposite  183 

Ira  Remsen opposite  197 

Emil  Fischer opposite  217 

Fischer's  apparatus  used  in  protein  work .  .  opposite  230 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 

iDERN  chemistry,  little  more  than  a  century 
old,  shows  several  outstanding  landmarks  in 
its  evolutionary  course.  These  may  be 
classified  into  (i)  The  Foundation  Period; 
(2)  The  Classification  Period;  (3)  The  Physico-Chemical 
Period;  and  (4)  The  Period  of  Radio-Activity. 

1.  The  Foundation  Period.    Many  regard  Lavoisier 
(1743-94)  as  the  father  of  modern  chemistry.    He  was 
unquestionably  one  of  its  chief  founders,  if  only  because 
of  the  importance  he  attached  to  the  use  of  the  balance. 
With  its  help  he  gave  us  our  modern  idea  of  combustion, 
and  established  the  law  of  the  conservation  of  mass, 
which  tells  us  that  in  all  chemical  reactions  the  total 
weight  of  the  products  formed  is  always  equal  to  the 
weight  of  the  reacting  substances.    Matter,  then,  may 
undergo  change,  but  it  cannot  be  created,  and  it  cannot 
be  destroyed. 

2.  The  Classification  Period.    Boyle  (1627-91)  was 
the  first  to  distinguish  clearly  between  elements  and 
compounds — substances  which  cannot,  and  substances 
which    can   be    decomposed.    The    atomic   theory   of 
Dalton  (1766-1844),  with  its  conception  of  the  atom  as 
the  unit  in  all  chemical  changes,  must  rank  in  importance 
with  Lavoisier's  pioneer  work  in  quantitative  chemistry. 
The  atom  and  the  molecule  were  further  studied  by 
Avogadro    (1776-1856)    and    Cannizzaro    (1826-1910), 
with  results  which  led  to  the  system  of  chemical  nomen- 
clature in  common  use  today.    Studies  in  the  structure 
of  compounds,  and  the  classification  of  the  elements 

ziii 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS   OF  OUR  TIME 

according  to  Mendeleefif's  periodic  system,  were  the 
logical  consequences  of  the  earlier  work  on  the  atom. 

In  more  recent  times  Ramsay,  Richards  and  Moseley 
have  added  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  periodic 
system,  which,  in  many  ways,  must  be  regarded  as  the 
starting  point  of  some  of  the  more  recent  discoveries  and 
hypotheses  in  chemistry. 

Side  by  side  with  these  fundamental  conceptions, 
chemists,  fired  by  the  work  of  Liebig  (1803-73)  and 
Wohler  (1800-82),  were  giving  much  attention  to  the 
chemistry  of  the  carbon  compounds  which,  in  number, 
seemed  infinite.  Brilliant  exponents  of  organic  chem- 
istry— which  is  the  common  name  given  to  the  chemistry 
of  the  carbon  compounds — were  Perkin  and  Victor 
Meyer. 

3.  The  Physico-Chemical  Period.  Organic  chemistry 
grew  to  greater  and  greater  proportions.  Even  as  late 
as  the  eighties  of  the  past  century  the  "  organicists  " 
were  not  merely  in  the  ascendency,  but  had  all  but  well- 
nigh  supplanted  the  "  inorganicists,"  i.e.,  the  chemists 
who  specialized  in  all  compounds  except  those  of  carbon. 
Then  came  a  remarkable  change.  This  was  partly  due 
to  Moissan's  brilliant  work  in  inorganic  chemistry, 
which  made  clear  to  the  scientific  public  that  this  phase 
of  chemistry  still  had  rich  fields  that  awaited  cultivation; 
but,  to  a  greater  degree,  to  van't  Hoff,  Arrhenius  and 
Ostwald,  who  founded  a  new  and  tremendously  im- 
portant branch  of  the  science — physical  chemistry. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  these 
three  did  not  so  much  create  a  new  branch  of  the  science, 
as  that  they  interpreted  chemistry  in  a  more  rational, 
more  mathematical,  and  therefore  more  rigorous  fashion; 
the  catalogue  of  facts  gave  place  to  a  discussion  of  far- 
reaching  principles. 

xiv 


INTRODUCTION 

Some,  fired  by  Moissan's  genius,  re-entered  the  field 
of  inorganic  chemistry;  many  of  the  younger  generation 
turned  to  the  physico-chemists ;  some,  however,  fas- 
cinated by  such  brilliant  work  as  Fischer's  application 
of  synthetic  chemistry  to  biology  and  medicine,  extended 
their  researches  into  the  domain  of  physiological  chem- 
istry. 

4.  The  Period  of  Radio- Activity.  The  study  by 
physicists  of  the  discharge  of  electricity  through  gases 
ultimately  led  to  the  discovery  of  radium  by  Madame 
Curie.  To-day  radio-activity  is  a  distinct  science ;  yet 
Mme.  Curie  began  her  researches  as  late  as  1898 ! 

Radioactivity  has  already  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  the 
structure  of  the  atom.  It  has  shown  conclusively  that 
the  atom  is  far  from  being  the  smallest  possible  particle, 
though  it  has,  if  anything,  confirmed  Dalton's  original 
view  that  chemical  reactions  take  place  between  atoms. 

Of  transcendent  importance  is  the  conclusion  these 
studies  lead  to:  that  whereas  chemistry  deals  with 
reactions  between  atoms,  radioactivity  deals  with  reac- 
tions within  the  atom.  The  two  types  of  activity  are 
quite  distinct  from  one  another;  to  such  an  extent,  in 
fact,  that  whereas  chemical  reactions  can  be  controlled, 
radioactivity  has  thus  far  proved  entirely  beyond  the 
control  of  man,  for  no  human  device  seems  to  increase 
or  decrease  such  activity. 

Addendum 

Chemistry  in  America.  The  history  of  chemistry  in 
America  is  discussed  in  the  article  on  Remsen.  Here 
it  needs  but  to  be  pointed  out  that  Remsen  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  vast  army  of  brilliant  American 
chemists  of  to-day  that  Johns  Hopkins  University  bears 
to  higher  education  in  the  United  States. 

XV 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR   TIME 

The  various  items  discussed  in  this  introduction  may 

now  be  tabulated  in  chronological  order: 

1661.    Boyle:  elements. 

1777.    Lavoisier:  combustion  and  conservation  of 

1808.     Dalton :  atomic  theory. 

1811.    Avogadro:  molecules. 

1828.  Wb'hler:  synthesis  of  urea — the  first  case  of  the 
artificial  production  of  a  typical  animal  product. 

1856.  Perkin:  discovery  of  mauve,  the  first  dye  ob- 
tained from  coal-tar. 

1858.    Cannizzaro:  atom  and  molecule. 

1865.    Kekule  suggests  ring  formula  for  benzene. 

1869.    Mendeleeff :  periodic  system  of  the  elements. 

1874.  van't  Hoff  and  Le  Bel:  structural  chemistry 
(theory  of  the  asymmetric  carbon  atom). 

1876.  Remsen  is  appointed  professor  of  chemistry  at 
Johns  Hopkins  University. 

1884.  Victor  Meyer  discovers  thiophene,  opening  up 

an  immense  chapter  in  organic  chemistry. 

1885.  Emil  Fischer  begins  work  on  the  synthesis  of 

sugars. 

1886.  Moissan:  isolation  of  fluorine. 

1887.  van't  Hoff:  theory  of  solution. 

1887.  Arrhenius:  theory  of  electrolytic  dissociation. 

1894.  Ramsay  and  Raleigh  discover  argon. 

1898.  Mme.  Curie:  radium. 

1913.  Moseley:    atomic  numbers  (see  the  article  on 

Richards). 

1914.  Richards :  radioactive  lead. 


xvi 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

every  school  child  knows  to-day,  the 
illuminating  gas  we  use  in  our  homes  is 
largely  obtained  from  the  dry  distillation  of 

coal;  but  many  men  and  women  even  to-day 

are  not  aware  that,  in  addition  to  illuminating  gas,  other 
products  of  far-reaching  commercial  importance  are  also 
obtained  from  this  same  coal. 

Among  these,  coal-tar  stands  out  pre-eminently. 
Not  so  many  years  ago  it  was  a  waste  and  a  nuisance; 
to-day  it  rivals  the  coal-gas  in  utility. 

From  this  dirty  black  tar,  by  a  series  of  distillations, 
we  get  benzene  and  toluene  and  naphthalene  and  anthra- 
cene— to  mention  but  four  important  substances — which 
are  the  starting  point  for  countless  products  of  the  dye 
and  synthetic  drug  variety. 

Out  of  benzene,  for  example,  we  can  get  aniline,  and 
from  the  latter,  Perkin,  in  1856,  ob tamed  the  first  arti- 
ficial dyestuff  ever  produced. 

Born  hi  England,  the  dye  industry  was  reared  and 
developed  in  Germany;  and  Germany  owes  much  of  its 
greatness,  and  very  much  of  its  downfall  to  it.  For 
the  dye  industry  proved  but  a  nucleus  for  many  other 
related  industries.  Thus  dyes  gave  rise  to  the  manu- 
facture of  sulphuric  and  nitric  acids  and  caustic  soda; 
these  in  turn  to  artificial  fertilizers,  explosives  and 
chlorine;  and  the  latter  to  poison  gas  with  all  its  con- 
comitants. The  medicine  in  small  doses  and  the  poison 
in  large;  chlorine  as  an  antiseptic  and  chlorine  as  a 
destroyer — give  them  but  the  wrong  twist,  and  man's 
ingenuity  becomes  positively  harmful. 


*  ^  EMINENT- CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Perkin  was  born  in  London  in  1838.  He  was  the 
youngest  son  of  George  Fowler  Perkin,  a  builder  and 
contractor,  who  had  apparently  decided  his  son's  future 
before  the  latter  had  discarded  his  swaddling  clothes. 
Perkin,  Jr.,  was  to  be  an  architect. 

But  Perkin,  Jr.,  had  not  yet  decided  for  himself. 
Perhaps  it  was  a  street  car  conductor  one  day,  a  prime 
minister  the  next,  and  an  engine  driver  the  third.  And 
then  again,  watching  his  father's  carpenters  at  work,  he 
wished  to  become  a  mechanic  of  some  kind;  and  plans 
for  buildings  fired  him  with  the  ambition  of  becoming  a 
painter. 

In  any  case,  in  his  thirteenth  year  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  watching  some  experiments  on  crystallization. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  he  forwith  decided  to  be  a 
chemist. 

Were  it  not  that  about  this  time  Perkin  entered  the 
City  of  London  School,  and  there  came  in  contact  with 
one  of  the  science  masters,  Mr.  Thomas  Hall,  this  latest 
decision  might  have  been  as  fleeting  as  his  previous 
ones. 

The  City  of  London  School,  like  all  important  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  day,  considered  science  as  an 
imposter  in  the  curriculum,  so  that  whilst  Latin  received 
a  considerable  slice  of  the  day's  attention,  poor  little 
chemistry  could  be  squeezed  hi  only  in  the  interval  set 
aside  for  lunch. 

A  few  boys,  and  among  them  Perkin,  were  sufficiently 
interested  to  forego  many  of  their  lunches  and  watch 
"Tommy  Hall"  perform  experiments. 

Hall's  infectious  personality  made  young  Perkin  all- 
enthusiastic.  He  was  going  to  be  a  chemist,  and  he 
was  going  to  the  Royal  College  of  Science,  of  which,  and 
of  its  renowned  chemical  professor,  Hall  had  told  him 
much. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

Hall's  earnest  pleading  finally  overcame  the  father's 
opposition,  and  in  his  fifteenth  year  Perkin  entered  the 
College.  "  Mr.  W.  Crookes,"1  the  assistant,  was  the 
one  immediately  hi  charge. 

The  head  professor  was  Hofmann,  an  imported 
product.  So  suggestive  and  illustrative  were  the  great 
chemist's  lectures  that,  in  the  second  semester,  Perkin 
begged  and  obtained  permission  to  hear  them  once 
again. 

In  the  laboratory  Perkin  was  put  through  the  routine 
in  qualitative  and  quantitative  chemistry,  Bunsen's  gas 
analysis  methods  serving  as  an  appendix.  This  was 
followed  by  a  research  problem  on  anthracene,  carried 
out  under  Hofmann's  direction,  which  yielded  negative 
results,  but  which  paved  the  way  for  successful  work 
later.  His  second  problem  on  naphthylamine  proved 
somewhat  more  successful,  and  was  subsequently  pub- 
lished hi  the  Chemical  Journal — the  first  of  more  than 
eighty  papers  to  appear  from  his  pen. 

When  but  seventeen  Perkin  already  had  shown  his 
mettle  to  such  an  extent  that  Hofmann  appointed  him  to 
an  assistantship.  This  otherwise  flattering  appoint- 
ment had,  however,  the  handicap  that  it  left  Perkin  no 
time  for  research.  To  overcome  this  the  enthusiastic 
boy  fixed  up  a  laboratory  in  his  own  home,  and  there, 
in  the  evenings,  and  in  vacation  tune,  the  lad  tried 
explorations  into  unknown  regions. 

The  celebrated  experiment  which  was  to  give  the 
17-year-old  lad  immortality  for  all  time  was  carried  out 
in  the  little  home  laboratory  hi  the  Easter  vacation  of 
1856.  It  arose  from  some  comments  by  Hofmann  on 
the  desirability  and  the  possibility  of  preparing  the 
alkaloid,  quinine,  artificially. 

1  The  late  Sir  W.  Crookes. 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Starting  first  with  toluidine,  and  then,  when  toluidine 
gave  unsatisfactory  results,  with  aniline — both  being 
products  of  coal  tar — Perkin  treated  a  salt  of  the  latter 
with  bichromate  of  potash  and  obtained  a  dirty  black 
precipitate. 

Dirty,  slimy  precipitates  had  been  obtained  before 
and  had,  as  a  rule,  been  discarded  as  objectionable  by- 
products. Perkin's  first  instinct  to  throw  the  "rub- 
bish" away  was  overcome  by  a  second,  which  urged 
him  to  make  a  more  careful  examination.  And  this 
soon  resulted  in  the  isolation  of  the  first  dye  ever  pro- 
duced from  coal  tar — the  now  well-known  aniline  purple 
or  mauve ! 

A  sample  of  the  dye  was  sent  to  Messrs.  Pullar,  of 
Perth,  with  the  request  that  it  be  tried  on  silk.  "  If 
your  discovery  does  not  make  the  goods  too  expensive, 
it  is  decidedly  one  of  the  most  valuable  that  has  come 
out  for  a  long  time  ..."  was  the  answer.  Trials  on 
cotton  were  not  so  successful,  mainly  because  suitable 
mordants  were  not  known.  This  second  result  some- 
what dampened  the  enthusiasm  of  our  young  friend. 

Nevertheless,  Perkin  decided  to  patent  the  process, 
and,  if  possible,  to  improve  the  product,  as  well  as  to 
find  unproved  means  of  application. 

Full  of  hope  and  courage,  the  young  lad  had  decided 
to  stake  his  future  on  the  success  or  failure  of  this 
enterprise.  He  was  going  to  leave  the  Royal  College 
of  Science,  and  with  the  financial  backing  of  his  father — 
who  seems  to  have  had  a  sublime  faith  in  his  son's 
ability — he  was  going  to  build  a  factory  where  the  dye 
could  be  produced  in  quantity. 

Hofmann  was  shown  the  dye  and  was  told  of  the 
resolution.  The  well-meaning  professor,  who  seemed 
to  have  had  more  than  a  passing  fondness  for  the  lad, 
tried  all  he  could  to  persuade  Perkin  against  any  such 

4 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

undertaking.  And  let  it  be  added  that  in  that  day,  to 
any  man  with  any  practical  common  sense,  Perkin's 
venture  seemed  doomed  from  the  start. 

A  site  for  the  factory  was  obtained  at  Greenf ord  Green, 
near  Harrow,  and  the  building  commenced  hi  June,  1857. 

"  At  this  time,"  wrote  Perkin  years  later,  "  neither 
I  nor  my  friends  had  seen  the  inside  of  a  chemical 
works,  and  whatever  knowledge  I  had  was  obtained 
from  books.  This,  however,  was  not  so  serious  a  draw- 
back as  at  first  it  might  appear  to  be;  as  the  kind  of 
apparatus  required  and  the  character  of  the  operations 
to  be  performed  were  so  entirely  different  from  any  in 
use  that  there  was  but  little  to  copy  from." 

The  practical  difficulties  Perkin  had  to  overcome  were 
such  that,  hi  comparison,  the  actual  discovery  of  the 
dye  seems  a  small  affair.  Since  most  of  the  apparatus 
that  was  required  could  not  be  obtained,  it  had  first  to 
be  devised,  then  tested,  and  finally  applied. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Raw  materials  necessary  for  the 
manufacture  of  the  dye  were  as  scarce  as  some  rare 
elements  are  to-day.  Aniline  itself  was  little  more  than 
a  curiosity,  and  one  of  the  first  problems  was  to  devise 
methods  of  manufacturing  it  from  benzene. 

The  country  was  searched  high  and  low  for  benzene. 
Finally  Messrs.  Miller  and  Co.,  of  Glasgow,  were  found 
to  be  able  to  supply  Perkin  with  some  quantity,  but  the 
price  was  $1.25  a  gallon,  and  the  quality  so  poor  that  it 
had  to  be  redistilled. 

Now  the  first  step  in  the  conversion  of  benzene  to 
aniline  was  to  form  nitrobenzene,  and  this  required 
nitric  and  sulphuric  acids  in  addition  to  benzene.  Here 
again  the  market  did  not  offer  a  nitric  acid  strong  enough 
for  the  purpose.  This  had  first  to  be  manufactured  from 
Chili  saltpeter  and  oil  of  vitriol  (sulphuric  acid),  and 
special  apparatus  had  to  be  devised. 

5 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Bechamp's  discovery  three  years  earlier,  that  nitro- 
benzene could  be  converted  into  aniline  by  the  action  of 
finely  divided  iron  and  acetic  acid  was  now  developed 
for  industrial  use,  and  here  again  special  apparatus  had 
to  be  devised. 

To-day  the  most  fundamental  operations  in  every  dye 
factory  are  nitration — the  conversion,  say,  of  benzene  to 
nitrobenzene — and  reduction — the  conversion  of  nitro- 
benzene to  aniline.  The  mode  of  procedure,  the  tech- 
nique, the  apparatus — all  are  based  on  the  work  of  this 
eighteen-year-old  lad.  Only  those  who  have  attempted 
to  repeat  on  an  industrial  scale  what  has  been  success- 
fully carried  out  in  the  laboratory  on  a  small  scale,  will 
appreciate  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  and  the  extra- 
ordinary ability  that  Perkin  must  have  possessed  to 
have  overcome  them.  Think  of  a  Baeyer  who  synthe- 
sized indigo  hi  his  university  laboratory,  and  then  think 
of  the  twenty  years  of  continuous  labor  that  was  re- 
quired before  the  Badische  Anilin  Fabrik,  with  its 
hundreds  of  expert  chemists  and  mechanics,  was  in  a 
position  to  produce  indigo  in  quantity.  And  it  would 
have  taken  them  and  others  much  longer  but  for  the 
pioneer  work  of  young  Perkin. 

Some  have  described  Perkin's  discovery  as  accidental. 
Perhaps  it  was.  But  consider  the  way  it  was  perfected 
and  made  available;  consider  with  what  extraordinary 
ability  every  related  topic  was  handled;  consider  how 
every  move  was  a  new  move,  with  no  previous  experience 
to  guide  him;  and  who  but  one  endowed  with  the  quality 
of  genius  could  have  overcome  all  this?  Hertz  dis- 
covered the  key  to  wireless  telegraphy,  but  Marconi 
brought  it  within  reach  of  all  of  us;  Baeyer  first  synthe- 
sized indigo,  but  the  combined  labors  of  chemists  in 
the  largest  chemical  factory  in  the  world  were  necessary 
before  artificial  indigo  began  to  compete  with  the 

6 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

natural  product;    Perkin  both  isolated  the  first  arti- 
ficial dyestuff  and  made  it  useful  to  man. 

In  less  than  six  months  aniline  purple — "  Tyrian 
purple  "  it  was  at  first  called — was  being  used  for  silk 
dyeing  in  a  Mr.  Keith's  dye-house.  The  demand  for 
it  became  so  great  that  many  other  concerns  in  England, 
and  particularly  hi  France,  began  its  manufacture. 
In  France  it  was  renamed  "  mauve,"  and  "  mauve  " 
it  has  remained  to  this  day. 

Perkin's  improvements  continued  uninterruptedly, 
and  his  financial  success  grew  beyond  all  expectations. 
He  found  that  the  uneven  color  often  obtained  in  dyeing 
on  silk  could  be  entirely  remedied  by  dyeing  in  a  soap 
bath.  The  use  of  tannin  as  one  of  the  mordants  made 
it  applicable  to  cotton,  and  shades  of  various  kinds  and 
depths  of  any  degree  could  be  attained  without  any 
difficulty.  A  process  for  its  use  in  calico  printing  was 
also  worked  out  successfully. 

When,  three  years  later,  Verguin  discovered  the  im- 
portant magenta — or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  fuchsine 
— and  later  still  Hofmann,  his  rosaniline,  various  details 
in  the  manufacture  of  mauve  and  its  application  to  silk, 
cotton  and  calico  printing,  were  appropriated  bodily. 

Young  Perkin  had  given  tremendous  impetus  to  re- 
search hi  pure  and  applied  chemistry.  In  the  prepara- 
tion of  dyes,  substances  which  had,  until  then,  been 
curiosities,  had  now  become  necessities,  and  methods 
for  their  preparation  had  to  be  devised.  This  led  to 
incalculable  research  in  organic  chemistry.  In  fact,  it 
is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the  basis  for  most  of  the 
development  in  organic  chemistry  since  1856  lies  in 
Perkin's  discovery  of  mauve. 

Industry  has  not  been  the  only  benefactor.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  using  the  dye,  methylene  blue,  as  a 
staining  agent,  Koch  discovered  the  bacilli  of  tubercu- 

7 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

losis  and  cholera.  And  coal-tar  dyes  are  to-day  used 
in  every  histological  and  bacteriological  laboratory. 

So  rapid  had  been  the  progress  of  the  industry  that  in 
1861,  Perkin  who,  though  only  23,  was  already  recog- 
nized as  the  leading  English  authority,  was  asked  by  the 
Chemical  Society  to  lecture  on  coloring  matters  derived 
from  coal-tar,  and  on  this  occasion  the  great  Michael 
Faraday,  who  was  present,  warmly  congratulated  Perkin 
upon  his  fine  lecture. 

Such  dimensions  has  the  coal-tar  industry  assumed 
since  then  that  in  1913,  at  one  single  factory,  the  Baeyer 
works,  in  Elberfeld,  Germany,  there  were  employed 
8,000  workman  and  330  university  trained  chemists. 

Says  Punch: 

There's  hardly  a  thing  that  a  man  can  name 

Of  use  or  beauty  in  life's  small  game 

But  you  can  extract  in  alembic  or  jar 

From  the  "  physical  basis  "  of  black  coal-tar — 

Oil  and  ointment,  and  wax  and  wine, 

And  the  lovely  colors  called  aniline ; 

You  can  make  anything  from  a  salve  to  a  star, 

H  you  only  know  how,  from  black  coal-tar. 

In  his  little  laboratory  at  the  factory  the  various 
attempts  made  in  improving  the  methods  of  manu- 
facture were  not  the  only  time-consuming  factors.    The 
chemical  constitution  of  mauve  and  related  dyes,  as 
well  as  purely  organic  questions  not  in  any  way  related 
to  dyes,  also  engaged  Perkin's  attention,  and  he  began 
to  contribute  what  was  to  prove  an  uninterrupted  stream 
of  papers  to  the  Transactions  of  the  Chemical  Society 
In  1866  he  was  elected  to  a  Fellowship  in  the  Royal 
Society. 

The  year  1868  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  chemistry 
as  dating  the  first  artificial  production  of  alizarin,  the 
important  coloring  matter  which  until  then  had  been 

8 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

obtained  exclusively  from  the  madder  root.  This  great 
triumph  was  due  to  the  labors  of  Graebe  and  Lieber- 
mann.  But  the  triumph  for  the  time  being  was  purely  a 
scientific  one.  The  process  as  worked  out  by  these  two 
chemists  was  far  too  costly  to  compete  with  the  method 
used  in  extracting  the  dye  from  the  madder  root. 

The  starting  point  to  the  artificial  production  of  alizarin 
was  anthracene,  another  important  coal-tar  product. 
It  so  happened  that  the  first  piece  of  research  Perkin  had 
ever  been  connected  with  was  related  to  anthracene,  a 
topic  taken  up  on  the  recommendation  of  his  teacher, 
Hofmann.  Naturally,  Graebe  and  Liebermann's  syn- 
thesis aroused  his  interest.  He  wished  to  find  some 
method  of  producing  it  at  less  cost. 

In  less  than  a  year  Perkin  had  solved  the  problem. 
A  modification  of  the  method  dispensed  with  the  use  of 
bromine,  which  was  very  costly.  A  patent  was  taken 
out  in  June,  1869,  at  about  the  same  tune  that  Perkin's 
process  had  been  discovered  quite  independently  by 
Graebe,  Liebermann  and  Caro. 

Just  as  in  the  case  of  mauve,  the  supply  of  raw  ma- 
terials and  the  mastery  of  technical  details,  involved 
much  labor  and  ingenuity. 

To  begin  with,  a  constant  and  generous  supply  of 
anthracene  was  necessary.  But  where  was  this  to  be 
had?  The  tar  distillers  had  had  no  use  for  it,  and  had 
not  troubled  to  separate  it  in  the  distillation  of  tar. 
Many,  indeed,  there  were  among  them  who  did  not  even 
know  of  its  existence. 

With  the  help  of  his  brother,  the  various  distillers  in 
the  country  were  visited  and  the  method  of  isolating  the 
anthracene  from  the  tar  distillate  was  shown  them. 
The  promise  that  all  anthracene  thus  obtained  would  be 
bought  and  generously  paid  for,  assured  the  Perkins  of  a 
plentiful  supply. 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS   OF  OUR  TIME 

The  purification  of  the  anthracene  so  obtained,  the 
details  of  the  entire  process  of  manufacturing  alizarin, 
and  the  types  of  apparatus  to  be  employed,  were  all 
exhaustively  investigated.  By  the  end  of  1869  one  ton 
of  the  coloring  matter  in  the  form  of  a  paste  had  been 
made.  This  was  increased  to  40  tons  in  1870,  and  to 
220  tons  in  1871.  Until  1873,  when  the  Germans  also 
began  manufacturing  it,  the  Greenwood  Green  works 
were  the  sole  suppliers. 

In  1874  Perkin  sold  his  factory,  and  from  henceforth 
devoted  himself  exclusively  to  pure  research. 

Perkin  exemplifies  the  type,  more  common  than  is 
often  supposed,  though  one  entirely  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  the  average  business  man,  who  loves  the 
quiet  pursuit  of  research  beyond  aught  else.  Perkin 
exploited  his  discovery  solely  with  the  view  of  pro- 
viding himself  with  an  income,  modest  in  the  extreme, 
but  sufficient  for  his  extremely  simple  wants.  To 
explore  unknown  fields  at  leisure  and  to  be  freed  from 
all  money  matters  whilst  doing  so,  were  his  aims. 

When  Perkin  left  the  Royal  College  of  Science  at  17  he 
had  this  in  mind.  Financial  insecurity  may  spur  you 
on,  but  to  give  the  very  best  that  is  in  you  requires 
freedom  from  such  burdens. 

What  led  him  to  give  up  the  factory  and  to  devote  him- 
self exclusively  to  pure  science  was  sheer  love  of  the 
subject.  It  is  the  type  of  love  which,  when  associated 
with  genius,  has  led  to  the  world's  greatest  literary  and 
artistic  productions. 

After  1874  Perkin  moved  to  a  new  house  in  Sudbury, 
and  continued  to  use  the  old  one  as  the  laboratory. 

His  research  work  from  now  on  touched  but  lightly 
upon  the  dye  situation.  Until  1881  it  centered  much 
around  the  action  of  acetic  anhydride  on  a  group  of 
organic  compounds  known  as  aldehydes.  The  first  im- 

IO 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

portant  result  that  was  here  achieved  was  the  synthesis 
of  coumarin,  an  odorous  substance  found  in  the  tonka 
bean.  This  was  the  first  case  of  the  production  of  a 
vegetable  perfume  from  a  coal-tar  product. 

These  researches  culminated  in  the  now  classical 
PerkirCs  Synthesis  of  unsaturated  fatty  acids —  a  group 
reaction  which  is  studied  by  every  student  in  chemistry 
to-day. 

In  1879  Perkin  was  the  recipient  of  the  Royal  Medal  of 
the  Royal  Society,  the  other  awards  of  the  year  going  to 
Clausius,  for  his  investigation  of  the  Mechanical  Theory 
of  Heat,  and  Lecoq  de  Boisboudron,  for  the  discovery 
of  the  element  gallium.  The  president  addressed  Perkin 
as  follows: 

"  Mr.  William  Perkin  has  been,  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  one  of  the  most  industrious  and  successful  investi- 
gators of  Organic  Chemistry. 

"  Mr.  Perkin  is  the  originator  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant branches  of  chemical  industry,  that  of  the  manu- 
facture of  dyes  from  coal-tar  derivatives. 

"  Forty-three  years  ago  the  production  of  a  violet- 
blue  color  by  the  addition  of  chloride  of  lime  to  oil 
obtained  from  coal-tar  was  first  noticed,  and  this  having 
afterwards  been  ascertained  to  be  due  to  the  existence 
of  the  organic  base  known  as  aniline,  the  production  of 
the  coloration  was  for  many  years  used  as  a  very  deli- 
cate test  for  that  substance. 

"  The  violet  color  in  question,  which  was  soon  after- 
wards also  produced  by  other  oxidizing  agents,  appeared, 
however,  to  be  quite  fugitive,  and  the  possibility  of  fixing 
and  obtaining  in  a  state  of  purity  the  aniline  product 
which  gave  rise  to  it,  appears  not  to  have  occurred  to 
chemists  until  Mr.  Perkin  successfully  grappled  with  the 
subject  in  1856,  and  produced  the  beautiful  coloring 
matter  known  as  aniline  violet,  or  mauve,  the  production 

ii 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

of  which,  on  a  large  scale,  by  Mr.  Perkin,  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  coal-tar  color  industry. 

"  His  more  recent  researches  on  anthracene  deriva- 
tives, especially  on  artificial  alizarine,  the  coloring 
matter  identical  with  that  obtained  from  madder,  rank 
among  the  most  important  work,  and  some  of  them 
have  greatly  contributed  to  the  successful  manufacture 
of  alizarine  in  this  country. 

"Among  the  very  numerous  researches  of  purely 
scientific  interest  which  Mr.  Perkin  has  published,  a 
series  on  the  hydrides  of  salicyl  and  their  derivatives, 
may  be  specially  referred  to;  but  among  the  most 
prominent  of  his  admirable  investigations  are  those 
resulting  in  the  synthesis  of  coumarin,  the  odiferous 
principle  of  the  tonquin  bean  and  the  sweet-scented 
woodstuff,  and  its  homologues. 

"  The  artificial  production  of  glycocoll  and  of  tartaric 
acid  by  Mr.  Perkin  conjointly  with  Mr.  Duppa  afford 
other  admirable  examples  of  synthetical  research.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  seldom  that  an  investigator  of  organic  chemistry 
has  extended  his  researches  over  so  wide  a  range  as  is 
the  case  with  Mr.  Perkin,  and  his  work  has  always  com- 
manded the  admiration  of  chemists  for  its  accuracy  and 
completeness,  and  for  the  originality  of  its  conception." 

In  1881  Perkin  turned  his  attention  in  an  entirely  new 
direction,  that  of  the  relationship  between  the  physical 
properties  and  the  chemical  constitution  of  substances. 
Gladstone,  Briihl,  and  others  were  already  busy  con- 
necting such  physical  manifestations  as  refraction  and 
dispersion  with  chemical  constitution.  Perkin  now 
introduced  a  third  physical  property,  first  discovered  by 
Faraday:  the  power  substances  possess  of  rotating  the 
plane  of  polarisation  when  placed  in  a  magnetic  field. 

With  this  general  topic  Perkin  was  engaged  to  the 
year  of  his  death.  His  work  has  thrown  a  flood  of  light 

12 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

upon  the  constitution  of  almost  every  type  of  organic 
compound,  some,  such  as  acetoacetic  ester  and  benzene, 
being  of  extraordinary  fascination  to  every  chemist. 

There  are  chemists — and  H.  E.  Armstrong  is  among 
them — who  regard  this  phase  of  Perkin's  life  work  as 
his  crowning  achievement.  If  it  has  not  received  such 
general  recognition  as  his  earlier  work,  that  is  to  be 
largely  ascribed  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  physics  which 
prevailed  among  chemists  until  quite  recently.  How- 
ever, even  as  far  back  as  1889  Perkin  was  presented  with 
the  Davy  Medal  of  the  Royal  Society  as  a  reward  for  his 
magnetic  studies. 

The  year  1906  marked  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  coal-tar  industry,  and  the  entire  sci- 
entific world  stirred  itself  to  do  honor  to  the  founder. 
A  meeting  was  held  on  July  26  of  that  year  at  the  Royal 
Institution  in  London,  over  which  Prof.  R.  Meldola,  the 
president  of  the  Chemical  Society,  presided,  and  those 
in  attendance  included  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
representatives  of  science  in  the  world. 

The  first  part  of  the  meeting  consisted  in  the  presen- 
tation of  his  portrait  (painted  by  A.  S.  Cope,  A.R.A.)  to 
the  guest  of  the  evening.  A  bust  of  Perkin  (executed  by 
Mr.  Pomeroy,  A.R.A.)  for  the  library  of  the  Chemical 
Society,  was  next  shown.  In  addition  the  chairman 
stated  that  a  fund  of  several  thousand  pounds  had  been 
collected  for  the  endowment  of  chemical  research  in 
the  name  of  "  Sir  William  Henry  Perkin "  (he  had 
been  knighted  in  the  meantime). 

Prof.  Emil  Fischer,  president  of  the  German  Chemical 
Society,  presented  to  Perkin  the  Hofmann  Medal,  which 
was  accompanied  with  this  address:  Die  Deutsche 
Chemische  Gesellschaft  hat  Herrn  Dr.  W.  H.  Perkin 
in  London  filr  ausgezeichnete  Leistungen  auf  dem 
Gebiete  der  Organischen  Chemie,  im  besonderen  fiir 

13 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

die  Begriindung  der  Teerfarben-Industrie,  den  Hof- 
mann-Preis  verliehen.  Berlin,  im  Juli,  1906.  Der 
President:  E.Fischer.  DieSchriftfuhrer:  C.Schotten, 
W.  Will. 

Prof.  A.  Haller,  representing  France,  presented  Perkin 
with  the  Lavoisier  Medal,  with  this  address:  La  Societe 
Chimique  de  Pans,  a  V occasion  du  Jubilee  destinee  a 
celebrer  la  cinquantieme  anniversaire  de  la  decouverte 
de  la  premiere  matiere  color  ante  derivee  de  la  houille, 
et  comme  temoignage  de  haute  estime  pour  ses  travaux, 
est  heureuse  d'offrir  au  Dr.  William  Henri  Perkin, 
Inventeur  de  la  Mauveine  (1865),  sa  Medaille  de 
Lavoisier  a  Veffigie  de  celui  qui  fut  Vun  des  premiers 
et  des  plus  illustres  applicateurs  des  Sciences  Chimiques 
a  Vindustrie  et  a  la  prosperite  publiques.  Le  Secre- 
taire-General: A.  Behal.  Le  President  de  la  Societe 
Chimique  de  Paris:  Armand  Gautier.  Juillet, 
1906. 

Addresses  were  also  delivered  by  Dr.  Baekeland, 
representing  the  chemists  of  America;  Prof.  Paul 
Friedlander,  on  behalf  of  the  scientific  and  technical 
chemists  of  Austria;  Prof.  P.  van  Romburgh,  Holland; 
Prof.  H.  Rupe,  Switzerland;  Lord  Kelvin,  representing 
the  Royal  Society;  and  Prof.  Meldola,  on  behalf  of  the 
English  Chemical  Society. 

A  passage  from  the  Chemical  Society's  report  is  worth 
quoting:  "...  However  highly  your  technical  achieve- 
ments be  rated,  those  who  have  been  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  you  must  feel  that  the  example  which  you 
have  set  by  your  rectitude  as  well  as  by  your  modesty 
and  sincerity  of  purpose  is  of  chiefest  value.  That  you 
should  have  been  able,  as  a  very  young  man,  to  over- 
come the  extraordinary  difficulties  incident  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  entirely  novel  industry  50  years  ago  is  a 
clear  proof  that  you  were  possessed  in  an  unusual  degree 

14 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

of  courage,  independence  of  character,  judgment,  and 
resourcefulness;  but  even  more  striking  is  your  return 
into  the  fold  of  scientific  workers  and  the  ardor  with 
which  you  have  devoted  yourself  to  the  prosecution  of 
abstract  physico-chemical  inquiries  of  exceptional  diffi- 
culty. In  the  account  of  your  renowned  master,  Hof- 
mann,  you  have  stated  that  one  of  your  great  fears  on 
entering  into  technical  work  was  that  it  might  prevent 
your  continuing  research  work;  that  you  should  have  felt 
such  regret  at  such  a  period  is  sufficiently  remarkable, 
and  it  must  be  a  source  of  enduring  satisfaction  to  you 
to  know  that  your  later  scientific  work  deserves,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  to  rank  certainly  no  less  than  your 
earlier." 

How  much  Perkin  was  appreciated  in  Germany,  where 
the  coal-tar  industry  had  developed  into  such  gigantic 
proportions,  is  shown  by  the  delegation  that  came  from 
that  country.  There  were  Prof.  Bernthsen,  Dr.  H. 
Caro  and  Dr.  Ehrhardt,  of  the  Badische  Anilin  und 
Soda-Fabrik;  Dr.  Aug.  Clemm,  Herr  R.  Bablich,  and 
Dr.  E.  Ullrich,  Farbwerke,  Meister,  Lucius,  und  Briin- 
ing;  Dr.  Klingeman,  Casella  and  Co.,  Prof.  Carl  Duis- 

,  berg  and   Dr.  Nieme,  Farbenfabriken,  Elberfeld,  and 
Prof.  Liebermann — in  short,  the  cream  of  Germany's 
industrial  chemical  fraternity. 
And  there  were  messages  from  Prof.  Beilstein  (Petro- 

i  grad),    Prof.    Ciamician    (Bologna),    Prof.    Canizzaro 

;  (Rome),  Prof.  Jorgensen  (Copenhagen),  Prof.  Takayama 
(Tokyo),  Prof.  Adolf  Baeyer  (Munich),  Prof.  J.  W. 
Briihl  (Heidelberg),  Prof.  G.  Lunge  (Zurich),  and 
Prof.  Hugo  Schiff  (Florence) — an  international  band  of 

i  illustrious  scholars. 

In  the  autumn  following  the  jubilee  celebrations  in 
London,  Sir  William  Perkin  accepted  an  invitation  from 
the  American  Committee  to  visit  its  shores.  Various 

15 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

gatherings  were  held  in  his  honor  in  New  York,  Boston, 
Washington,  etc. 

In  New  York  a  dinner  was  tendered  him  at  Del- 
monico's,  with  the  veteran  Prof.  Chandler,  of  Columbia, 
in  the  chair.  Dr.  W.  H.  Nichols  presented  him  with  the 
first  impress  of  the  Perkin  Medal,  since  awarded  annu- 
ally to  the  American  chemist  who  has  most  distinguished 
himself  by  his  services  to  applied  chemistry;  and  Dr. 
W.  F.  Hillebrand,  president  of  the  American  Chemical 
Society,  presented  the  diploma  of  honorary  membership 
of  the  society  to  the  guest  of  the  evening.  Other 
speakers  included  President  Ira  Remsen  of  Johns 
Hopkins,  Prof.  Nernst  of  Berlin,  and  Dr.  W.  H.  Wiley, 
chief  chemist  of  the  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Washington. 

Perkin  died  on  July  14,  1907. 

Aside  from  his  scientific  achievements,  Perkin's  life 
was  extremely  uneventful.  To  him  his  science  was  his 
life,  and  he  seems  to  have  had  no  avocation.  We  find 
no  romantic  dash,  no  such  many-sidedness,  as  char- 
acterised his  great  countryman,  Ramsay,  for  example. 
With  modesty  carried  to  the  extreme,  only  the  privileged 
few  knew  anything  of  the  man,  and  even  Prof.  Meldola, 
an  ultimate  friend  of  many  years*  standing,  could  give 
but  few  personal  touches  of  the  man  in  his  otherwise 
excellent  obituary  address,  delivered  to  the  members  of 
the  Chemical  Society.  "...  I  thank  God,  to  whom  I 
owe  everything,  for  all  His  goodness  to  me,  and  ascribe 
to  Him  all  the  praise  and  honor."  This  was  Perkin's 
review  of  his  life  hi  1906.  A  blameless  Christian,  a 
perfect  gentleman,  a  fine  type  of  the  old  conservative, 
he  lived  unobtrusively,  worked  quietly  and  intensively, 
worshipped  God,  and  respected  his  neighbor.  To  us, 
living  in  days  of  turmoil  and  upheaval,  such  a  personage 
already  belongs  to  an  age  long  past. 

16 


WILLIAM  HENRY  PERKIN 

Perkin  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Lisset.  Some  years  after 
her  death  he  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Herman  Molwo. 
Mrs.  Perkin,  three  sons,  and  four  daughters,  survive 
him. 

His  sons  are  all  noted  chemists.  One  of  them,  Arthur 
George,  is  a  technical  expert,  and  another,  William 
Henry,  is  professor  of  chemistry  at  Oxford.  This  Ox- 
ford professor  is  without  doubt  the  foremost  organic 
chemist  in  England  to-day.  His  work  on  polymethyl- 
enes,  alkaloids,  camphor,  terpenes,  etc.,  is  of  the  highest 
order. 

Like  that  other  grand  Englishman,  Darwin,  Perkin, 
the  genius,  begot  Perkins  of  genius.  Not  always  are  the 
Gods  so  kind  to  the  children  of  geniuses. 

To  great  ends  and  projects  had  thy  life  been  given; 
Right  well  and  nobly  has  the  goal  been  won; 
For  this,  O  Great  Discoverer,  thou  hast  striven; 
Take,  then,  our  thanks,  for  all  that  thou  hast  done. 

(Nora  Hastings, — dedicated  to  Perkin.) 

References 

Much  of  the  biographical  material  has  been  supplied 
by  Perkin  himself  in  his  Hofmann  Memorial  Lec- 
ture (i).  Prof.  Meldola's  appreciative  article  (2)  is 
largely  based  on  this,  though  valuable  additional  ma- 
terial, particularly  that  relating  to  the  technical  develop- 
ment of  Perkin's  dye,  is  to  be  found  here.  The  Jubilee 
volume  (3)  contains  interesting  items.  Perkin's  sci- 
entific papers  were  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Chem- 
ical Society  (London). 

i.  W.  H.  Perkin:  The  Origin  of  the  Coal-Tar  Industry,  and  the 
Contributions  of  Hofmann  and  his  Pupils.  Journal  of  the 
Chemical  Society  (London),  69,  556  (1886). 

3  17 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS   OF   OUR  TIME 

2.  Raphael  Meldola:    Perkin  Obituary   Notice.    Journal  of  the 

Chemical  Society  (London),  9J,  2214  (1908). 

3.  R.  Meldola,  A.  G.  Green,  and  J.  C.  Cain:   Jubilee  of  the  Dis- 

covery of  Mauve  and  of  the  Foundation  of  the  Coal-Tar 
Color  Industry  by  Sir  W.  H.  Perkin.  (Printed  by  G.  E. 
Wright,  at  the  Times  Office,  London,  and  published  by  the 
Perkin  Memorial  Committee,  1906.) 


18 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEFF 

TSSIA,  the  land  of  mystery  to  her  western 
neighbors,  occasionally  startles  us  by  the 
intellectual  giants  she  produces.  The  world 
has  long  sung  praises  of  Tolstoy  and  Tschai- 
kowsky,  and  scientists  have  shown  no  less  admiration 
for  thephysiologist,  Pavloff ,  and  the  chemist,  Mendeleeff. 

MendeleefFs  Periodic  Law  has  shown  how  the  ele- 
ments, the  chemist's  building-stones,  can  be  grouped  to 
exhibit  striking  family  resemblances.  The  chaos  of  the 
sixties  gave  place  to  a  law  of  nature  hi  the  seventies, 
and  the  law  paved  the  way  for  the  more  remarkable 
discoveries  of  the  present  era. 

Dmitri  Ivanowitch  Mendeleeff  was  born  in  Tobolsk, 
Siberia,  on  February  7,  1834.  He  was  the  youngest  of 
eleven,  fourteen  or  seventeen  children — authorities 
seem  to  differ.  On  the  paternal  side  Mendeleeff  came 
from  priestly  stock,  his  grandfather,  Pawal  Maksim- 
owitch  Sokoloff,  occupying  a  modest  position  in  the 
Greek  Church  ruled  by  the  Hqjy  Synod.  Since  celibacy 
is  not  obligatory  for  the  lower  clergy  of  this  church, 
Pawal  took  advantage  of  such  permission  and  married. 
Of  his  four  sons,  Wassili,  Iwan,  Timofei  and  Alexander, 
the  second,  Iwan,  came  to  be  called  Mendeleeff  because 
early  in  life  he  dealt  (exchanged)  in  horses  ("mjenu 
djelatj  "  =  to  make  an  exchange). 

Iwan  in  time  became  a  student  of  the  chief  Peda- 
gogical Institute  in  Petrograd,  and  sometime  after  his 
graduation  the  government  appointed  him  director  of 
the  gymnasium  at  Tobolsk.  Here  he  met  and  married 
Maria  Korniloff. 

19 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

The  Korniloffs  belonged  to  an  old  Russian  family  that 
had  settled  in  Tobolsk  early  in  1700.  They  were  the 
first  to  introduce  the  manufacture  of  paper  and  glass  in 
Siberia.  In  1787  Maria's  father  established  a  printing 
press  at  Tobolsk,  and  two  years  later  he  began  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Irtysch)  the  first  newspaper  ever  published 
hi  Siberia. 

A  family  tradition  had  it  that  in  a  previous  generation 
one  of  the  Korniloffs  had  married  a  Khirgis  Tartar 
beauty,  thereby  admixing  their  pure  Russian  with 
Mongolian  blood.  Some  of  the  descendants  showed 
unquestionable  oriental  features,  but  not  Dmitri,  the 
chemist. 

Mendeleeff's  name  has  been  spelled  in  any  number  of 
ways.  Sometimes  it  has  appeared  as  Mendeleyef, 
sometimes  Mendelejef,  at  other  times  Mendelejeff, 
and  still  again  Mendeleeff,  Mendelejew,  and  Men- 
deleeff. We  have  selected  the  last  as  perhaps  the  least 
confusing  to  English  ears. 

Dmitri,  Iwan  and  Maria's  youngest  child,  was  his 
mother's  pet,  who  referred  to  him  hi  the  endearing 
diminutive,  Mitjenka. 

Soon  after  Dmitri's  birth  his  father  became  blind 
from  a  cataract  in  both  eyes,  and  this  terrible  calamity 
forced  him  to  resign  from  his  position  at  the  gymnasium. 
The  government's  grant  of  a  pension  of  one  thousand 
rubles  ($500)  was  hardly  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together. 

At  this  stage  Dmitri's  mother,  despite  the  invalid  on 
her  hands,  and  the  eight  remaining  children  that  needed 
attention,  took  charge  of  glass  works  belonging  to  her 
family,  and  directed  the  factory  for  a  number  of  years 
with  surprising  efficiency. 

Dmitri  showed  an  exceptional  memory  from  the  first. 
When  seven  years  old  he  was  sent  to  the  gymnasium  at 

20 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

Tobolsk,  and  here  he  excelled  in  mathematics,  physics 
and  history,  but  for  languages,  and  particularly  Latin, 
he  showed  no  inclination.  To  his  last  day  his  repug- 
nance for  the  classics  never  left  him. 

To  Tobolsk  many  of  Russia's  political  prisoners  were 
sent.  In  those  days  some  of  them  belonging  to  the 
Dekabrists  were  there.  The  Dekabrists  were  a  group 
of  literary  men  who  headed  a  revolution  in  1825  with 
the  object  of  establishing  a  constitutional  government  in 
Russia.  The  scheme  ended  in  failure.  Five  of  the 
leaders  were  executed,  and  many  of  the  others  were 
exiled  to  Siberia.  Among  these  exiles  in  Tobolsk  was 
one,  Bessagrin,  who  eventually  married  one  of  Dmitri's 
elder  sisters,  Olga,  and  it  was  from  this  Bessagrin  that 
Dmitri  received  his  "  coaching "  in  science,  and  his 
enthusiasm  for  it. 

In  1849,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  Mendeleeff  graduated 

from  the  gymnasium.    But  for  his  deficiency  in  the 

classics  he  might  have  obtained  a  government  stipend 

i  to  continue  his  studies  at  a  University.    As  it  was,  the 

government  refused  all  help. 

Two  years  before  this,  in  1847,  Mendeleeff 's  father 
died  of  consumption,  and  to  add  to  the  mother's  plentiful 
store  of  troubles,  the  glass  works  which  she  had  managed 
so  ably,  were  completely  destroyed  by  fire. 

Nothing  daunted,  and  despite  her  age — she  was  57 
1  then — Mrs,  Mendeleeff,  with  the  two  remaining  children 
she  still  had  to  care  for,  Dmitri  and  his  sister  Elizabeth, 
left  her  native  city  for  Moscow. 

She  had  hoped  that  in  Moscow  Dmitri  could  be 
entered  as  a  student  of  the  university.  But  there  were 
i  stumbling  blocks.  Dmitri's  record  did  not  show  that 
he  had  been  at  the  head  of  his  class.  Neither  did 
Dmitri's  mother  know  any  people  of  political  importance, 
and  without  such  acquaintances  the  only  other  way  of 

21 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

removing  the  barrier  would  have  been  an  ample  supply 
of  funds. 

Foiled  hi  this  attempt,  the  three  proceeded  to  Petro- 
grad.  Pletnoff,  the  director  of  the  Central  Pedagogic 
Institute  hi  Petrograd,  had  known  Dmitri's  father  very 
well,  and  through  his  assistance  young  Mendeleeff  was 
admitted  as  a  student  of  the  physico-mathematical 
department  of  the  Institute,  and  further  helped  finan- 
cially by  the  government. 

In  this  same  year  his  noble  mother,  full  to  the  brim 
with  years  of  suffering,  died.  In  the  preface  to  his  book 
on  Solutions ,  published  years  later,  Mendeleeff  feelingly 
refers  to  the  woman  who  sacrificed  so  much  for 
him: 

"  This  investigation  is  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  a 
mother  by  her  youngest  offspring.  Conducting  a  factory 
she  could  educate  him  only  by  her  own  work.  She  in- 
structed by  example,  corrected  with  love,  and  in  order 
to  devote  him  to  science  she  left  Siberia  with  him, 
spending  thus  her  last  resources  and  strength. 

"  When  dying  she  said,  *  Refrain  from  illusions,  in- 
sist on  work  and  not  on  words.  Patiently  search  divine 
and  scientific  truth.'  She  understood  how  often  dialec-  ] 
tical  methods  deceive,  how  much  there  is  still  to  be 
learned,  and  how,  with  the  aid  of  science  without  vio- 
lence, with  love  but  firmness,  all  superstition,  untruth  and 
error  are  removed,  bringing  hi  their  stead  the  safety  of 
undiscovered  truth,  freedom  for  further  development, 
general  welfare,  and  inward  happiness.  Dmitri  Men- 
deleef  regards  as  sacred  a  mother's  dying  words." 

The  Pedagogical  Institute,  which  was  altogether 
abolished  hi  1858,  was  a  special  training  school  for 
secondary  or  high-school  teachers.  Though  its  students 
met  hi  the  same  buildings  as  did  the  university  students, 
they  were  a  separate  body.  Their  professors,  however, 

22 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

were  usually  also  those  who  occupied  chairs  at  the 
university. 

The  more  noteworthy  of  Mendeleeff's  teachers  were 
Woskrensky  (chemistry),  Emil  Lenz  (physics),  Ostro- 
gradsky  (mathematics),  Ruprecht  (botany),  F.  Brandt 
(zoology),  Kutorga  (mineralogy),  and  Sawitsch  (astron- 
omy). With  all  of  these  men,  particularly  with  Wos- 
krensky, his  standing  was  very  high,  and  on  his  gradua- 
tion he  received  a  gold  medal  for  all-round  excellence. 

Whether  because  of  much  physical  hardship,  or  be- 
cause of  a  delicate  constitution,  is  not  clear,  but  towards 
the  end  of  the  course  at  the  Institute  his  health  altogether 
failed  him.  Pirogoff,  the  famous  surgeon,  claimed  that 
only  a  sojourn  in  the  south  could  prolong  his  life,  and 
then  only  for  some  six  or  seven  months ! 

Famous  surgeons,  like  other  famous  specialists,  are 
known  to  make  mistakes,  and  Mendeleeff  lived  for 
many  more  years.  But  his  trip  to  the  Crimea  un- 
questionably saved  him. 

This  trip  south  he  was  enabled  to  undertake  by  the 
government  appointment  which  he  received  as  chief 
science  master  of  the  gymnasium  im  Simferopol,  in  the 
Crimea.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Crimean  War  Men- 
deleeff was  transferred  to  the  gymnasium  in  Odessa. 

In  1856  Mendeleeff  returned  to  Petrograd.  His 
research  on  specific  volumes  earned  him  his  master's 
degree  in  chemistry,  and  also  an  appointment  as  privat- 
docent  at  the  university. 

The  decided  promise  which  Mendeleeff  had  shown 
led  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  to  grant  him  per- 
mission to  visit  and  work  in  foreign  laboratories.  In  this 
way  Mendeleeff,  between  1859  to  1861,  first  worked  in 
Regnault's  laboratory  in  Paris,  and  then  in  Bunsen's,  in 
Heidelberg.  In  neither  place  did  he  work  directly  under 
the  master,  but  quite  independently  on  his  own  subject 

23 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

of  the  physical  properties  of  liquids.  In  Heidelberg  the 
young  Russian  went  so  far  as  to  set  up  a  laboratory  of 
his  own. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  event  in  his  European 
travels  was  his  attendance  at  the  Karlsruhe  Congress  of 
Chemists  in  1860.  Here  occurred  the  battle  royal  on 
atomic  weights,  led  by  the  Italian,  Cannizarro,  which 
ultimately  paved  the  way  for  our  present  well-defined 
system  of  chemical  structures.  Who  can  doubt  that 
Cannizarro's  exposition  of  the  fundamental  necessity  of 
atomic  weights  for  elements  gave  Mendeleeff  ideas  con- 
cerning possible  relationships  among  the  elements? 

On  his  return  to  Petrograd  in  1861,  Mendeleeff  was 
granted  the  Doctor  of  Science  degree  for  a  thesis  on  the 
combination  of  alcohol  with  water.  Soon  afterwards  he 
was  appointed  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  Techno- 
logical Institute. 

The  general  dearth  of  good  chemistry  text-books  in 
the  Russian  language  led  Mendeleeff  to  write  one  on 
organic  chemistry.  His  amazing  industry  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  completed  this  book  of  500  pages  in  two 
months !  In  spite  of  the  rapidity  with  which  it  was  writ- 
ten, the  book  established  itself  as  the  best  of  its  kind 
in  the  language,  and  the  Domidoff  Prize  of  the  Petro- 
grad Academy  was  awarded  the  author. 

In  1869,  at  the  age  of  thirty  two,  Mendeleeff  was 
appointed  Professor  of  General  Chemistry  at  the  Uni- 
versity. His  colleague  in  the  organic  chemistry  depart- 
ment, Butlerow,  was  Fischer's  principal  forerunner  in 
synthetic  work  on  the  sugars. 

Despite  lectures,  supervision  of  the  laboratory  and 
various  executive  duties,  Mendeleeff  translated  Wag- 
ner's Chemische  Technologic,  a  work  of  several  vol- 
umes, into  Russian,  and  was  very  active  in  research 
work. 

24 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

In  March,  1869,  Mendeleeff  presented  to  the  Russian 
Chemical  SocTety  his  immortal  paper  on  The  Relation 
of  the  Properties  to  the  Atomic  Weights  of  the  Ele- 
ments. 

Mendeleeff  was  not  the  first  to  believe  that  the  ele- 
ments were  not  merely  disconnected  elementary  bodies. 
Thus  Dobereiner  in  1829  pointed  out  that  a  number  of 
the  elements  could  be  grouped  in  "  triads  "  in  such  a 
way  that  the  arithmetic  mean  of  the  atomic  weights  of 
the  first  and  third  would  give  that  of  the  second. 

At  this  point  some  idea  of  atomic  weight  must  be 
given  the  general  reader.  Atomic  weight  sounds  like 
the  weight  of  an  atom.  That,  in  reality,  is  quite  an 
exaggeration.  Atoms  are  much  too  small  to  be  seen, 
let  alone  weighed.  The  number  representing  the 
atomic  weight  of  an  element  is  not  the  absolute  but  the 
relative  weight  of  the  atom.  Thus,  when  we  say  that 
the  atomic  weight  of  nitrogen  is  14  we  mean  that  its 
atom  is  14  times  as  heavy  as  the  atom  of  hydrogen 
(which,  because  it  is  the  lightest  element  known,  is 
taken  as  unity),  or  that  its  weight  is  14  if  the  weight  of 
the  atom  of  oxygen  is  16.  We  can  get  such  numbers  by 
weighing  many  millions  of  atoms  of  each  element  (con- 
stituting small  particles  which  can  be  seen)  and  then 
comparing  their  weights  with  the  weight  of  a  standard 
element  such  as  hydrogen  or  oxygen.  The  actual  details 
are  too  technical  to  be  discussed  here. 

Dumas,  some  thirty  years  after  Dobereiner,  ad- 
vanced a  similar  hypothesis,  extending  it  to  groups  in 
organic  chemistry.  But  to  Newlands,  an  Englishman, 
belongs  the  honor  of  having  been  the  first  to  see  fairly 
clearly  how  the  eighty-odd  elements  could  be  grouped 
to  show  their  relationships.  In  a  paper  read  before  the 
English  Chemical  Society  in  1866,  Newlands  showed 
that  the  elements  could  be  arranged  in  groups  of  eight 

25 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

along  horizontal  lines  in  such  a  way  that  elements  in  the 
vertical  columns  would  be  those  with  similar  properties. 
The  law  of  octaves  was  given  to  this  grouping  of 
eights. 

The  reception  of  the  theory  by  Newland's  fellow- 
chemists  was  anything  but  encouraging.  One  ostenta- 
tious busybody  wished  to  know  whether  Newlands  had 
tried  to  arrange  the  elements  according  to  their  initial 
letters!  Another  suggested  new  possibilities  in  the 
W-  field  of  music  with  the  law  of  octaves!  The  upshot  of 
the  affair  was  that  poor  Newlands  was  sent  home  thor- 
oughly ridiculed,  and  his  paper  was  refused  publication 
in  the  society's  journal.  That,  however,  did  not  prevent 
the  Royal  Society  from  making  some  amends  twenty- 
one  years  later  by  awarding  him  its  Davy  Medal  for 
the  very  paper  which  its  sister  organisation  had  refused 
to  print! 

It  must  be  added,  however,  in  excuse  for  the  scep- 
ticism of  the  scientists  of  the  day,  but  in  no  excuse  for 
their  arrogance,  that  Newlands  had  not  put  his  theory 
to  as  thorough  a  test  as  he  might  have  done.  In  its 
incompleted  form  its  suggestions  were  too  vague  for  men 
steeped  in  experimental  work. 

But  Mendeleeff's  paper  three  years  later  removed 
most  of  the  objections,  and  forced  the  attention  of  the 
chemists  to  his  scheme.  Mendeleeff  left  nothing  for 
granted;  his  statements  were  accompanied  by  rigorous 
experimental  proofs. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  table  on  p.  27  that  when  the 
elements  are  grouped  in  the  ascending  order  of  their 
atomic  weights  they  exhibit  an  evident  periodicity  of 
properties;  thus  the  ninth,  neon,  resembles  the  first, 
helium,1  the  tenth,  sodium,  resembles  the  second, 

1  Hydrogen,  the  lightest  element,  does  not  find  an  appropriate 
place  in  the  table. 

26 


if  i 


o'<&  2  I 
?fi 

II  A«P< 


i     i 


i?i 


9  <o 

' 


00 


i 


<> 

?    I 

£ 


! 


OO 


M 

P 

oo 


1  m  li 


-  o 


11 


1* 

» 


5  o 

111!1 


a  if  H  iffl? 


ou 


swili  if  |i 


* 

- 


IS  §4 

i! 


a« 


.  . 


1=  li  ,  ,     |    S; 
fe«     '    titi 


* 
i 


BH 

1^  13  %&  so  §  jj  |-? 

g  ||  g-  II  2  "  S  II  2  II  '     '          rn  H      ' 

•M  i  A  r\    d  a  J3  (/)    xn  W    r«  ™  «l 


> 
Wf 


I   II  II    I 

^^   ^j  H^ 


O\  O  H 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

lithium,  and  so  on.  In  other  words,  the  elements  in 
the  vertical  columns  show  striking  similarities  in  proper- 
ties. Such  is  the  gist  of  this  law,  though  its  details  are 
much  more  complicated. 

What  were  its  immediate  results?  To  begin  with,  a 
number  of  the  elements  did  not  fit  in  with  Mendeleeff's 
scheme.  Forthwith  Mendeleeff  announced  that  the 
fault  lay  with  incorrect  atomic  weights  which  had  been 
assigned  these  elements. 

Mendeleeff  proved  right  in  all  such  cases.  Thus,  to 
take  one  example,  the  then  accepted  atomic  weight  for 
gold  was  196.2 ;  accordingly  it  should  have  been  placed 
before  such  elements  as  platinum,  iridium  and  osmium, 
with  atomic  weights  of  196.7,  196.7  and  198.6  respec- 
tively. But  Mendeleeff  insisted  upon  putting  gold  after 
these  elements,  claiming  that  their  atomic  weights,  and 
not  his  table  needed  revision.  Subsequently,  a  revision 
of  their  atomic  weights  gave  these  results: 

Osmium  190.9,  Iridium  193.1,  Platinum  195.2  and 
Gold  197.2,  which  was  precisely  the  order  in  which 
Mendeleefif  had  originally  placed  them. 

But  Mendeleefif  did  something  far  more  daring.  The 
grouping  according  to  Mendeleefif's  scheme  resulted  in 
certain  gaps  being  left  unfilled.  This,  said  Mendeleeff, 
was  due  to  elements  which  awaited  discovery.  By  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  properties  of  adjacent  ele- 
ments the  great  Russian  predicted  the  properties  of  these 
undiscovered  elements. 

A  case  will  be  cited.  To  one  of  these  unknown  ele- 
ments Mendeleeff  gave  the  name  ekasilicon,  and  certain 
properties  were  predicted  for  it.  In  1886  Winkler  dis- 
covered germanium,  which  showed  identical  properties 
with  this  ekasilicon,  as  the  following  comparison  will 
show: 


28 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

Mendeleeff's  Winkler's 

Ekasilicon  Germanium 

Atomic  weight Es,  72  Ge,  72.5 

Density Es,  5.5  Ge,  5.469 

Density  of  oxide EsO2,  4.7  GeO2,  4.703 

Density  of  chloride EsCl4,  1.9  GeCl4,  1.887 

f  Less  than  100  f  86  degrees 

Boding  point  of  chloride. .  A   ..  A      -\  . 

I  degrees  centigrade     I  dentigrade 

Density  of  ethide Es(C2H6)4,  0.96 

Boiling  point  of  ethide 160°  160° 

These  wonderful  predictions  did  more  to  convince 
scientists  of  the  validity  of  the  law  than  anything  else 
could  have  done.  The  soundness  of  a  theory  is  best 
exemplified  by  the  use  to  which  it  can  be  put.  Does  it 
explain  anomalies?  Does  it  guide  along  future  paths 
of  investigation?  The  Periodic  Law  has  more  than  ful- 
filled these  requirements.  As  a  beacon  it  stands  out 
as  prominently  hi  the  history  of  chemistry  as  does 
Dalton's  Atomic  Theory,  which  is  at  the  very  foundation 
of  our  science  to-day.  Some  of  the  most  startling  dis- 
coveries of  our  time,  such  as  the  rare  gases  of  the 
atmosphere  (see  Ramsay)  and  the  radioelements  (see 
Curie  and  Richards)  are  directly  attributable  to  the 
Periodic  Law.2 

The  same  year  that  saw  the  publication  of  Mendeleeff's 
immortal  paper,  that  is,  in  1869,  als°  witnessed  the  pub- 
lication of  his  Principles  of  Chemistry,  which  in  some 

2  It  should  be  mentioned  that  Chancourtois  in  France,  and 
Lothar  Meyer  in  Germany,  also  suggested  periodic  classification  of 
the  elements.  Lothar  Meyer,  in  particular,  with  his  atomic  volumes 
— the  volumes  occupied  by  atomic  weights  of  the  elements — was 
able  to  uncover  some  striking  analogies.  Lothar  Meyer  and 
Mendeleeff's  papers  were  published  in  the  same  year — 1869.  The 
time  unquestionably  was  ripe  for  some  such  formulation.  In  a 
similar  way,  Darwin  and  Wallace,  ten  years  earlier,  unfolded  the 
origin  of  species  quite  independently  of  one  another. 

29 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

ways  stands  alone  among  chemical  books.  One  of  its 
unique  features  is  the  very  elaborate  footnotes  in 
smaller  print,  which  occupy  more  space  than  the  actual 
text,  and  which  are  mainly  taken  up  with  the  personal 
views  of  the  author.  These  footnotes  give  the  key  to 
any  number  of  new  problems,  and  are  the  source  of 
perennial  inspiration  to  readers. 

The  two  volumes  of  the  Principles  have  gone  through 
many  editions  in  many  languages  (including  English), 
and  its  text  seems  little  antiquated  even  to-day,  which 
is  an  exceptionally  high  compliment  to  be  paid  a  chemical 
work  that  has  been  before  the  public  for  fifty  years. 
In  the  first  chapter  of  volume  II  the  reader  will  find  an 
illuminating  account  of  the  author's  Periodic  Law.3 

Till  his  death,  in  1907,  Mendeleeff  worked  and  wrote 
incessantly.  He,  together  with  his  co-workers,  pub- 
lished more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  articles,  touching 
every  phase  of  chemistry.  Indeed  there  is  not  a  branch 
of  our  science  but  was  enriched  by  his  contributions. 
Abstruse  subjects  such  as  the  properties  of  liquids, 
theories  of  solution  and  the  development  of  the  gas 
laws,  seem  but  distantly  connected  with  the  pressing 
problems  of  the  day,  though  they  are  not  so  far  removed 
as  the  layman  is  apt  to  think.  The  constitution  of  the 
upper  atmosphere,  the  aether,  seems  a  metaphysical 
problem  perhaps.  But  in  addition  to  such  profound 
investigations  in  chemical  philosophy,  Mendeleeff  proved 
of  much  practical  value  to  the  government  and  the  people 
of  Russia  by  his  exhaustive  investigations  of  the  Baku 
oil  fields. 

Mendeleeff's  first  report  on  the  naphtha  springs  in 
the  Caucusus  was  issued  as  early  as  1866.  In  1876, 
in  order  to  get  further  first-hand  information,  he  visited 

8  Though  commonly  known  as  the  Periodic  Law,  the  Periodic 
System  is  a  much  better  name  for  it. 

30 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

the  Pennsylvania  oil  fields.  The  possible  exhaustion  of 
the  Baku  petroleum  led  the  Russian  Government  to 
requisition  his  services  in  1886.  His  suggestions  led  to 
fruitful  results. 

In  1887,  during  a  solar  eclipse,  Mendeleeff  ascended 
alone  in  a  balloon  to  make  various  scientific  observations. 
This  ascent  was  not  without  its  perils,  and  gave  some 
anxious  moments  to  his  assistants,  but  it  had  its  reward 
in  the  local  fame  which  it  earned  him;  "  for  the  peasant 
women  thereafter  used  to  tell  that  Dmitri  Ivanovitsch 
flew  on  a  bubble  and  pierced  the  sky,  and  for  this  the 
authorities  made  him  a  chemist!  " 

In  1882  Mendeleeff  and  Lothar  Meyer  were  awarded 
the  Davy  Medal  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  Copley  Medal 
going  to  Arthur  Cayley,  the  mathematician,  and  a  Royal 
Medal,  to  the  late  Lord  Rayleigh.  "  Like  every  great 
step  in  our  knowledge  of  the  order  of  nature,"  said  the 
president,  William  Spottiswoode,  "  this  periodic  series 
not  only  enables  us  to  see  clearly  much  what  we  could 
not  see  before ;  it  also  raises  new  difficulties,  and  points 
to  many  problems  which  need  investigation.  It  is 
certainly  a  most  important  extension  of  the  science  of 
chemistry." 

Mendeleeff  was  chosen  for  the  Copley  Medallist,  the 
Royal  Society's  highest  award,  in  1905.  By  this  time 
he  had  reached  the  very  zenith  of  his  fame.  "  Men 
deleeff,"  said  Sir  William  Huggins,  "stands  high 
among  the  great  philosophical  chemists  of  the  last 
century." 

At  various  other  times  he  was  honored  with  degrees 
from  Princeton,  Oxford,  Cambridge  and  Gottingen,  and 
in  1889  he  won  the  Faraday  Medal  of  the  English 
Chemical  Society. 

These  marks  of  recognition,  gratifying  as  they  were, 
could  hardly  compensate  for  the  annoyances  which 

31 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Mendeleeff  experienced  as  professor  at  the  university. 
Whether  envious  because  of  his  reputation,  or  finding 
him  unacceptable  because  he  was  not  a  well-defined 
autocrat,  the  Academy  at  Petrograd  black-balled  him. 
The  Ministry  of  Education  considered  him  far  too  much 
of  a  liberal,  whereas  many  of  the  students  were  of  the 
opinion  that  he  never  went  far  enough.  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  particularly  welcome  hi  either 
opposing  camp. 

Occasionally,  because  of  his  neutrality,  Mendeleeff 
attempted  to  act  as  mediator.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions, hi  1890,  after  serious  disturbances  at  the  uni- 
versity by  the  students,  resulting,  as  usual,  from  the 
ruthless  suppression  by  the  police  of  any  semblance  of 
freedom  of  thought,  Mendeleeff  partly  pacified  the  under- 
graduates by  promising  to  present  their  petition  to  the 
Minister  of  Education.  This  was  enough  to  bring  down 
the  wrath  of  the  official  ministry  upon  him.  In  a  very 
sharp  note  he  was  told  to  steer  clear  of  aught  but  what 
concerned  him  as  teacher  of  chemistry.  Mendeleeff 
felt  this  sting  so  deeply  that  he  resigned  from  his  chair 
at  the  university.  Some  amends  were  made  three  years 
later  when  Sergius  Witte,  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
appointed  him  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Weights  and 
Measures — a  post  he  retained  until  his  death. 

Those  who  have  read  his  Principles  can  form  some 
opinion  of  what  a  stimulating  lecturer  Mendeleeff  must 
have  been.  We  would  have  expected  the  author  of  the 
Periodic  Law  to  have  emphasised  the  co-ordinated 
links  in  the  chain,  and  to  have  presented  a  unified 
picture  of  the  whole  subject  of  chemistry.  Such,  indeed, 
is  the  testimony  of  his  students.  Mr.  I.  Goldenberg 
writes:  "I  was  a  student  in  the  Technological  Insti- 
tute from  1867-9.  Mendeleeff  was  our  professor,  and 
in  1868  taught  organic  chemistry.  The  previous  course 

32 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

by  the  professor  of  inorganic  chemistry  consisted  of  a 
collection  of  recipes,  very  hard  to  remember,  but, 
thanks  to  Mendeleeff,  I  began  to  perceive  that  chemistry 
was  really  a  science. 

"  The  most  remarkable  thing  at  his  lectures  was  that 
the  mind  of  his  audience  worked  with  his,  forseeing  the 
conclusions  he  might  arrive  at,  and  feeling  happy  when 
he  did  reach  these  conclusions.  More  than  once  he 
said,  '  I  do  not  wish  to  cram  you  with  facts,  but  I  want 
you  to  be  able  to  read  chemical  treatises  and  other 
literature,  to  be  able  to  analyse  them,  and,  in  fact,  to 
understand  chemistry.  And  you  should  remember  that 
hypotheses  are  not  theories.' 

"  He  was  considered  among  the  students  a  liberal 
man,  and  they  thought  of  him  as  a  comrade.  More 
than  once  during  a  disturbance  between  the  students 
and  the  administration  Mendeleeff  supported  the 
students,  and  under  his  influence  many  matters  were 
put  right." 

Prince  Peter  Kropotkin,  the  well-known  Russian 
socialist,  was  also  one  of  Mendeleeff's  students.  "  I 
had  the  good  fortune,"  writes  the  Prince,  "  to  follow, 
in  1867-9,  his  lectures  on  both  organic  and  inorganic 
chemistry.  The  former  was  an  abridged  course,  which 
he  had  the  admirable  idea  to  deliver  for  us  students  of 
the  mathematical  branch  of  the  physico-mathematical 
faculty. 

"...  Imagine  each  of  these  notes  [referring  to  the 
footnotes  in  the  Principles]  developed  into  a  beautiful 
improvisation,  with  all  the  freshness  of  thought  of  a 
man  who,  while  he  speaks,  evolves  all  the  arguments, 
for  and  against,  there  on  the  spot. 

"  The  hall  was  always  crowded  with  something  like 
two  hundred  students,  many  of  whom,  I  am  afraid,  could 
not  follow  Mendeleeff,  but  for  the  few  of  us  who  could 
4  33 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

it  was  a  stimulant  to  the  intellect  and  a  lesson  in  sci- 
entific thinking  which  must  have  left  deep  traces  in 
their  development,  as  it  did  in  mine." 

In  1863,  two  years  after  his  appointment  at  the  Tech- 
nological Institute,  Mendeleeff  married  his  first  wife 
(nee  Lesthoff).  With  her  he  had  a  son,  Vladimir,  who 
died  in  1899  at  the  age  of  thirty  four,  and  a  daughter, 
Olga.  This  marriage  proved  an  extremely  unhappy  one. 
For  some  time  they  lived  apart,  and  finally  they  were 
divorced.  In  1877  he  fell  in  love  with  a  young  lady 
artist,  Anna  Ivanovna  Popova,  of  Cossack  origin,  and 
the  two  were  married  in  1881. 

From  his  second  wife  Mendeleeff  received  his  very 
decided  views  on  art.  These  found  characteristic  ex- 
pression in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  the  Russian  daily,  Goloss 
(the  voice)  on  the  subject  of  a  picture  by  Kouindji, 
Night  in  the  Ukraine:  "  Landscape  was  depicted  in 
antiquity,  but  was  not  in  favor  in  those  days.  Even  the 
great  masters  of  the  sixteenth  century  made  use  of  it 
merely  as  a  frame  to  their  pictures.  It  was  the  human 
form  which  inspired  artists  of  that  epoch;  even  the  gods 
and  the  Almighty  himself  appeared  to  their  minds  in 
human  shape.  In  this  alone  they  found  the  infinite,  the 
inspiring,  the  divine.  And  this  was  because  they  wor- 
shipped human  mind  and  human  spirit. 

"  This  found  expression  in  science  in  an  exceptional 
development  of  mathematical  logic,  metaphysics  and 
politics.  Later,  however,  men  lost  faith  in  the  absolute 
and  original  power  of  human  reason,  and  they  discovered 
that  the  study  of  external  nature  assists  even  in  the 
correct  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  the  human  inner 
self.  Thus  nature  became  an  object  of  study;  a  natural 
science  arose  unknown  either  to  antiquity  or  to  the  period 
of  the  Renaissance. 

34 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

"  Observation  and  experience,  inductive  reasoning, 
submission  to  the  inevitable,  soon  gave  rise  to  a  new  and 
more  powerful,  more  productive  method  of  seeking 
truth.  It  thus  became  evident  that  human  nature, 
including  its  consciousness  and  reason,  is  merely  a 
part  of  the  whole,  which  is  easier  to  comprehend  as 
such  from  the  study  of  external  nature  than  of  the  inner 
man.  External  nature  thus  ceased  to  be  subservient  to 
man  and  became  his  equal,  his  friend.  .  .  .  Inductive 
and  experimental  science  became  a  crown  of  knowledge, 
royal  physics  and  mathematics  had  now  to  be  content 
with  modest  questioning  of  nature. 

"  Landscape  painting  was  born  simultaneously  with 
the  change,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier.  Thus  it  will 
probably  come  to  pass  that  our  age  will  hereafter  be 
known  as  the  epoch  of  natural  science  in  philosophy  and 
of  landscape  hi  art.  Both  derive  their  materials  from 
sources  external  to  man.  .  .  .  Man  has,  however,  not 
been  lost  sight  of  as  an  object  of  study  and  of  artistic 
creation,  but  he  now  appears,  not  as  a  potentate  or  as  a 
microcosm,  but  merely  as  part  of  a  complex  whole." 

Mendeleeff 's  wife  adorned  his  study  with  pen  sketches 
of  such  scientific  celebrities  as  Lavoisier,  Descartes, 
Newton,  Galileo,  Copernicus,  Graham,  Mitscherlich, 
Rose,  Chevreul,  Faraday,  Berthelot,  Dumas,  etc. 

The  family  first  lived  at  the  university,  then  in  a 
house  specially  built  for  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Weights  and  Measures.  In  this  house  his  children  by 
his  second  wife  were  born:  Lioubov  (Aimee),  Ivan 
(Jean),  and  the  twins  Maria  and  Vassili  (Basile). 

In  appearance  Mendeleeff  was  a  genuine  Slav. 
Medium  in  height,  rather  powerfully  set,  with  an  abund- 
ance of  hair  reminding  one  of  a  Paderewski,  expressive 
blue  eyes,  high  cheek  bones,  an  immense  forehead,  he 
commanded  attention  wherever  he  went.  At  home  he 

35 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

went  about  in  loose  garments  of  his  own  design,  some- 
what after  the  fashion  of  his  illustrious  compatriot, 
Tolstoy. 

For  all  the  pomp  of  court  life,  in  fact,  for  any  osten- 
tatious display,  he  had  nothing  but  contempt.  His 
presentation  to  Tsar  Alexander  III  was  made  possible 
only  by  the  permission  which  was  given  him  to  wear 
anything  he  pleased.  This  embraced  non-interference 
with  his  proud  locks. 

His  democracy  showed  itself  in  peculiar  ways.  For 
example,  he  always  insisted  on  travelling  third  class  in 
his  short  journeys  from  Petrograd  to  his  estate,  but  at 
the  station  his  driver,  Zassorin,  was  always  at  hand  with 
the  troika  and  a  pair  of  magnificent  greys,  and  the 
somewhat  shabby  third  class  traveller  became  suddenly 
transformed  into  the  wealthy  landowner. 

Mendeleeff  was  a  Russian  of  the  temperamental 
variety — a  quite  common  variety  of  Russian;  he  was 
rather  hard  to  live  with,  at  times  smooth  and  silky  in 
speech,  at  other  times  quite  uncontrollable  hi  temper, 
and  for  no  apparent  reason. 

Though  unconcerned  as  to  his  personal  appearance, 
Mendeleeff  was  extremely  sensitive  as  to  the  way 
people  received  him.  He  knew  himself  to  be  a  genius, 
and  he  expected  people  to  pay  homage.  In  this  con- 
nection Sir  William  Ramsay  tells  of  an  amusing  incident 
which  occurred  at  a  dinner  in  London,  given  to  W.  H. 
Perkin  in  1884:  "  Iwas  very  early  at  the  dinner  and 
was  putting  off  time,  looking  at  the  names  of  people  to 
be  present,  when  a  peculiar  foreigner,  every  hair  of 
whose  head  acted  in  independence  of  every  other,  came 
up  bowing.  I  said,  *  We  are  to  have  a  good  attendance 
I  think.'  He  said,  *  I  do  not  spik  English.'  I  said, 
'  Vielleicht  sprechen  Sie  Deutch? '  He  replied,  '  Ja 
ein  wenig.  Ich  bin  MendeleenV  I  did  not  say,  *  Ich 

36 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

bin  Ramsay,'  but  '  Ich  heisse  Ramsay,'  which  was  per- 
haps more  modest.  His  method  reminded  me  of  *  the 
only  Jones.'  Well,  we  had  twenty  minutes  or  so  before 
anyone  else  turned  up  and  we  talked  our  mutual  subject 
fairly  out.  He  is  a  nice  sort  of  a  fellow,  but  his  German 
is  not  perfect.  He  said  he  was  raised  hi  East  Siberia 
and  knew  no  Russian  even  till  he  was  seventeen  years 
old.  I  suppose  he  is  a  Kalmuck,  or  one  of  these  out- 
landish creatures." 

In  1900  the  Prussian  Academy  celebrated  its  two- 
hundredth  anniversary,  and  the  University  of  Petrograd 
sent  Mendeleeff  as  its  delegate.  At  the  banquet  van't 
Hoff  presided  over  one  of  the  side  tables,  with  Laden- 
burg  (the  Breslau  representative)  to  the  right,  and 
Mendeleeff  to  the  left  of  him.  Mendeleeff  was  an 
inveterate  smoker,  and  simply  chafed  because  he  could 
not  eat  and  smoke  alternately.  Ladenburg  tells  us  that 
immediately  after  the  soup  Mendeleeff  began  to  pump 
those  around  him  as  to  whether  he  could  be  allowed  to 
smoke.  They  answered  him  that  that  was  out  of  the 
question.  But  he  repeated  his  question  after  the  first, 
and  after  the  second  courses.  Then  dear  old  van't 
Hoff,  who  hated  to  see  anyone  suffer  so,  stepped  hi 
with  the  risky  suggestion  that  he  also  would  join  hi  a 
smoke.  And  the  two  went  to  it,  to  the  great  relief  of 
Mendeleeff,  who  from  then  on  proved  an  enjoyable 
companion.  But  the  sad  side  of  the  incident  was  that 
van't  Hoff,  who  had  begun  to  show  incipient  signs  of 
tuberculosis,  had  been  expressly  forbidden  smoking. 

The  present  outcry  against  the  classics,  and  the  belief 
by  many  in  America  and  England  that  a  portion  of  the 
classical  scholarship  of  statesmen  could  well  be  dis- 
placed by  scientific  information,  was  echoed  by  Mende- 
leeff long  before  the  World  War  emphasised  the  im- 
perative necessity  of  a  utilitarian  education.  In  1901 

37 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

he  published  a  pamphlet  on  Remarks  on  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  Russia,  in  which  there  occurs  the  following: 

"The  fundamental  direction  of  Russian  education 
should  be  living  and  real,  not  based  on  dead  languages, 
grammatical  rules,  and  dialectical  discussions,  which 
without  experimental  control,  bring  self-deceit,  illusion, 
presumption,  and  selfishness." 

Universal  peace  and  the  brotherhood  of  nations,  says 
Mendeleeff,  with,  we  are  afraid,  a  super-abundance  of 
confidence  in  his  view,  can  only  be  brought  about  by  a 
vital  realism  in  schools.  "  For  such  reforms  are  re- 
quired many  strong  realists;  classicists  are  only  fit  to 
be  landowners,  capitalists,  civil  seiyants,  men  of  letters, 
critics,  describing  and  discussing,  but  helping  only 
indirectly  the  cause  of  popular  needs.  We  could  live 
at  the  present  day  without  a  Plato,  but  a  double  number 
of  Newtons  is  required  to  discover  the  secrets  of  nature, 
and  to  bring  life  into  harmony  with  the  laws  of  nature." 

From  such  remarks  the  reader  may  conclude  that 
Mendeleeff  was  perilously  near  being  a  radical.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  this  is  no  nearer  the  truth  than  the  infer- 
ence that  because  he  used  the  third  class  railway  com- 
partment he  was  to  be  considered  one  of  the  people. 
Mendeleeff,  in  fact,  was  regarded  by  many  as  a  rigid 
monarchist.  The  Russo-Japanese  War,  for  example, 
found  him  in  the  camp  of  the  jingos.  The  revolutionary 
outbreaks  during  the  war,  and  Russia's  defeat,  un- 
questionably hastened  his  end.  Scientific  Russia,  which 
had  bestirred  itself  to  great  undertakings  in  1904  in 
honor  of  the  Master's  seventieth  celebration,  found  itself 
little  encouraged  hi  its  proceedings  by  the  broken  spirit 
in  Petrograd. 

When  he  was  hi  his  library  and  wrote  articles,  Mende- 
leefif  described  himself  as  an  "  evolutionist  of  peacable 
type." 

38 


DMITRI  IVANOWITCH  MENDELEEF 

His  attitude  towards  women  was  equally  characteristic. 
To  show  his  broad-mindedness,  he  employed  some  of 
them  at  the  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures,  and  even 
lectured  to  them.  But  he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  clear 
that  they  were  decidedly  inferior  to  men  in  intellect. 
Feminists,  he  declared,  perhaps  with  some  truth,  aimed 
not  so  much  at  equality  of  political  position  as  at  oppor- 
tunities for  work,  to  escape  inactivity. 

His  day's  work  done,  Mendeleeff  would  retire  to  his 
estate  at  Tuer,  Boblova,  and  dine  at  six.  Then  he  was 
very  fond  of  company,  and  could  be  seen  at  his  best. 
Mendeleeff  at  his  best  had  hardly  a  peer,  particularly 
when  the  subject  turned  to  the  philosophy  of  science. 
After  dinner,  if  alone  with  his  family,  he  would  puff  at 
his  cigarette  and  usually  read  books  of  adventure — 
Fenimore  Cooper,  Jules  Verne  and  the  like.  Some- 
times, being  really  fond  of  literature,  he  would  read 
deeper  things.  Among  Russians,  Maicofif  and  Tutt- 
cheff  were  his  favorites;  outside  of  his  own  country  he 
loved  Byron  best.  Byron,  as  we  shall  see,  was  also 
van't  Hoff's  literary  hero. 

The  theatre  saw  Mendeleeff  seldom,  but  music  was  a 
favored  form  of  recreation.  In  this  field  of  art  he  had 
decided  preference  for  Beethoven. 

"  But  of  all  things  I  love  nothing  more  in  life  than  to 
have  my  children  around  me ;  "  which  brings  us  to  the 
most  lovable  side  of  Mendeleeffs  personality,  and  here 
we  shall  leave  him. 

Mendeleeff  died  in  1907  from  an  attack  of  pneu- 
monia. Just  prior  to  falling  into  an  unconscious  state, 
he  had  requested  that  Jules  Verne's  Journey  to  the 
North  Pole  be  read  to  him. 

Tolstoy  commands  no  more  dominating  position  in 
literature  than  does  Mendeleeff  hi  chemistry.  Both 
belong  to  the  world  at  large,  and  the  world  is  thankful 

39 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

to  them  and  to  Russia  for  having  enriched  the  intellect 
of  so  many  of  us. 

References 

Some  of  the  facts  come  from  private  sources.  I  have, 
however,  drawn  freely  on  Prof.  Tilden's  article  (i). 
Prof.  Walden's  essay  (2)  also  proved  very  useful.  Sir 
Edward  Thorpe's  sketch  (3)  carries  us  up  to  1889. 
MendeleefFs  book  (5)  is  well  worth  examination.  Other 
references  are  4,  6  and  7. 

1.  W.  A.  Tilden:    MendelSeff  Memorial  Lecture.    Journal  of  the 

Chemical  Society  (London),  95,  2007  (1908). 

2.  P.  Walden:    Dmitri  Iwanowitsch  Mendelejeff.    Berichte  der 

deutchen  chemischen  Gesellschaft  (Berlin),  41,  4719  (1908). 

3.  Sir  Edward  Thorpe:  Essays  in  Historical  Chemistry  (Macmillan 

and  Co.     1911). 

4.  D.  I.  Mendeleeff:  An  Attempt  Towards  a  Chemical  Conception 

of  the  Ether  (Longmans,  Green  and  Co.    1904). 

5.  D.  I.  Mendeleeff :  The  Principles  of  Chemistry.    2  vols.     (Long- 

mans, Green  and  Co.    1905.) 

6.  F.  P.  Venable:  The  Development  of  the  Periodic  Law  (Chemical 

Publishing  Company.    1896). 

7.  A.  E.  Garett:  The  Periodic  Law  (D.  Appleton  and  Co.    1909). 


40 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

|N  that  elegant  tribute  to  Ramsay,  written  in 
the  days  when  comradeship  between  the 
scientists  of  England  and  Germany  was  close, 

Ostwald  summarizes  him  as  one  belonging 

to  the  romantic  type  in  science.  Romantic  he  was,  for 
his  imagination  was  unlimited.  The  secret  of  Ramsay's 
great  triumphs  lay  in  the  fact  that  with  this  imagination 
there  was  a  well-balanced  knowledge  of  the  science, 
with  a  seer's  insight  into  the  significance  of  its  laws. 
Bold  in  the  conception  of  a  problem,  he  was  brilliant 
beyond  comparison  hi  its  execution.  With  no  fetish  to 
hold  him,  with  the  mantle  of  the  prophet  about  him, 
and  with  amazing  manipulative  skill,  he  layed  bare,  in 
rapid  succession,  a  regular  little  battalion  of  new  gases 
in  the  atmosphere,  followed  by  transmutation  experi- 
ments which  made  the  scientific  world  gasp  and  hold  its 
breath  in  expectancy  of  the  next  dare-devil  leap. 

This  genius,  born  in  Glasgow  in  1852,  did  not  spring 
from  any  geniuses,  but  like  many  another  man  of  talent, 
his  stock  was  of  a  fairly  ordinary  type.  To  be  sure, 
there  was  an  uncle  with  a  reputation  as  a  geologist,  and 
his  own  father  had  some  scientific  tastes,  but  nothing  at 
all  to  warrant  such  outpourings  in  the  offspring.  When 
eleven  years  old  he  joined  the  Third  Latin  Class  of  the 
Glasgow  Academy,  and  during  the  three  succeeding 
years  at  the  institution  he  did  little  Latin,  gained  no 
prizes,  and  did  much  dreaming.  Ramsay  describes 
himself  in  a  short  autobiography  as  "to  a  certain  ex- 
tent precocious,  though  idle  and  dreamy  youngster." 
This  fits  in  with  Ostwald's  theory  of  the  genius:  "  The 

41 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

precpciousness  is  a  practically  universal  phenomenon  of 
incipient  genius,  and  the  dreamy  quality  indicates  that 
original  production  of  thought  which  lies  at  the  basis  of 
all  creative  activity."  Even  thus  early  he  evinced  a 
passion  for  languages,  for  it  is  recorded  that  during 
sermon  time  at  church  he  read  the  French  and  German 
texts  of  the  Bible  and  translated  them  into  English.  In 
after  years,  as  president  of  an  international  scientific 
gathering,  he  would  astound  the  assembly  by  addressing 
them  successively  in  French,  German  and  Italian. 

His  introduction  to  chemistry  came  in  quite  an  unex- 
pected way.  A  football  skirmish  resulted  in  his  breaking 
a  leg,  and  to  lessen  the  monotony  of  convalescence, 
Ramsay  read  Graham's  Chemistry,  with  the  object,  as 
he  frankly  confesses,  of  learning  how  to  make  fireworks. 
During  the  next  four  years  his  bedroom  was  full  of 
bottles,  and  test  tubes,  and  often  full  of  strange  odors 
and  of  startling  noises.  But  systematic  chemistry  was 
not  taken  up  till  1869,  three  years  after  he  had  entered 
the  University  of  Glasgow.  Then,  it  seems,  the  passion 
came  on,  and  with  it,  a  passion  for  the  cognate  science, 
physics.  This  resulted  in  an  introduction  to  William 
Thompson  (later  Lord  Kelvin),  the  professor,  who  set 
the  youngster  upon  the  elevating  task  of  getting  the 
"  kinks  "  out  of  a  bundle  of  copper  wire,  an  operation 
which  lasted  a  week.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  Thomp- 
son was  favorably  impressed  with  the  manner  in  which 
this  piece  of  research  was  carried  out,  for  Ramsay  was 
immediately  introduced  to  a  quadrant  electrometer  and 
asked  to  study  its  construction  and  use. 

A  year's  introductory  study  of  chemistry  decided 
Ramsay  upon  his  career,  and  with  his  parents'  blessing 
he  set  out  for  Heidelberg  in  1870,  to  be  exchanged  for 
Tubingen  some  months  later.  In  Tubingen  ruled 
Fittig,  whose  lectures  were  "  distinct  and  clear," 

42 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

whose  scholarship  was  sound,  and  whose  research  was 
methodical.  The  two  years  spent  at  Tubingen  were  full 
of  work  and  little  play.  "  I  was  up  this  morning,"  he 
writes  to  his  father,  "  at  5.30  and  studied  and  took  my 
breakfast  from  6  to  7, — a  class  from  7  to  8,  one  from 
8  to  9,  from  9  to  3  laboratory  (I  lunch  now  to  have  more 
time  for  work,  and  don't  dine  till  6),  and  from  3  to  5  I 
studied,  then  from  5  to  6  lecture,  and  then  I  dined. 
And  now  at  8  I  must  start  again."  And  so  this  was 
kept  up — all  the  time,  curiously  enough,  with  emphasis 
on  organic  chemistry,  a  branch  of  the  science  which 
Ramsay  almost  wholly  abandoned  in  his  later  and  most 
productive  years — till  the  time  for  the  Ph.D.  examin- 
ation. "  On  Monday  at  7  it  began  and  lasted  till 
half-past  12;  then  in  the  afternoon  from  3  to  8,  so 
we  had  a  good  spell  of  it."  The  questions  in  chem- 
istry were:  (a)  the  resemblances  and  differences  be- 
tween the  compounds  of  carbon  and  silicon,  and  (6) 
the  relation  between  glycerine  and  its  newer  deriva- 
tives and  the  other  compounds  containing  three  atoms 
of  carbon;  in  physics:  (a)  the  different  methods  for 
determining  the  specific  gravity  of  gases  and  vapors, 
and  (b)  the  phenomena  which  may  be  observed  in 
crystals  hi  polarised  light.  "  I  managed  to  answer  the 
first  perfectly,  the  second  however,  not  so  well,  and 
the  two  questions  in  physics  pretty  well.  Then  to-night 
we  had  the  oral  exam.  The  five  professors  who  com- 
pose the  faculty  were  there.  Fittig  gave  some  very 
difficult  questions.  Reusch  (Physics),  on  the  other 
hand,  very  easy  ones.  .  .  .  We  had  to  dress  up  and  put 
on  white  kids,  and  I  had  to  get  a  '  tile '  especially  for 
the  occasion.  Then  we  were  sent  out  after  the  exam, 
for  about  5  minutes  and  were  then  called  in  and  formally 
told  we  had  passed." 

43 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

A  dissertation  on  "  toluic  and  nitrotoluic  acids," 
which  gave  no  glimpse  of  the  future  before  him,  com- 
pleted Ramsay's  Ph.D.  requirements,  and  he  returned 
to  Glasgow,  where  he  became  assistant  in  the  Young 
Laboratory  of  Technical  Chemistry.  And  now  Ramsay 
had  to  turn  his  attention  from  organic  to  inorganic  chem- 
istry, for  most  of  the  courses  at  the  technical  school 
were  devoted  to  the  latter.  Though  the  physico- 
chemistry  background  was  entirely  lacking,  and  there- 
fore the  knowledge  obtained  could  hardly  have  been 
more  than  miscellaneous,  innumerable  facts  were  picked 
up  and  stored  for  future  reference. 

An  opening  as  tutorial  assistant  at  Glasgow  University 
offered  the  possibilities  of  a  more  congenial  academic 
atmosphere,  and  also  the  hope  of  continuing  his  inter- 
rupted research  hi  organic  chemistry.  "  The  cellars  of 
the  University  Laboratory  contained  a  large  collection 
of  fractions  of  '  Dippel-Oil '  prepared  by  Professor 
Thomas  Anderson.  These  were  regarded  by  Ferguson 
(his  successor),  whose  interest  hi  chemistry  was  almost 
entirely  that  of  an  antiquary,  more  or  less  hi  the  light 
of  museum  specimens,  and  he  was  horrified  when  Ram- 
say suggested  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  *  investi- 
gate '  them,  but  he  eventually  gave  way  to  Ramsay's 
importunity.  The  result  was  a  very  substantial  addition 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  pyridine  bases  and  their  deriva- 
tives." l 

The  chemistry  of  dyes  and  explosives  was  not  to  be 
his  life  work.  How  he  turned  from  this  to  the  more 
mathematical  branch  of  the  subject  is  ascribed  by 
Ramsay  himself  to  problems  he  encountered  in  attempts 
to  determine  the  molecular  weights  of  some  of  his 
organic  compounds  by  the  Victor  Meyer  vapor  density 
method.  But  we  must  also  add  that  Ramsay,  with  that 

1  Sir  James  Dobbie. 

44 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

instinct  for  detecting  the  truly  important  among  a  mass 
of  new  theories  and  facts,  which  was  one  of  his  greatest 
assets,  early  foresaw  the  part  the  new  science  of  physical 
chemistry  would  play  in  the  development  of  chemistry. 
Thus  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  hi  England  to  appreciate 
the  true  significance  of  Guldberg  and  Waage's  Law  of 
Mass  action,  just  as,  at  a  later  date,  he  was  among  the 
first  to  seize  upon  and  translate  van't  HofPs  celebrated 
paper  on  the  analogy  between  the  state  of  substances 
in  solution  and  the  same  when  in  a  state  of  gas.  The 
Victor  Meyer  method  suggested  to  him  experiments  on 
the  volume  of  liquids  at  their  boiling  point,  and  this  in 
turn  gave  rise  to  a  whole  series  of  new  possibilities,  the 
experimental  side  of  which  kept  him  and  his  collabor- 
ators, particularly  Young  and  Shields,  busy  even  after 
he  had  settled  in  University  College  years  later.2 

For  six  years  Ramsay  remained  assistant  at  Glasgow 
University,  and  though  during  that  time  he  had  been  a 
candidate  for  several  chairs  and  lectureships,  nothing 
came  of  any  of  them.  So  discouraged  did  he  become 
that  there  was  much  discussion  in  the  family  as  to  the 
advisability  of  starting  business  as  a  chemical  manu- 
facturer. But  before  this  scheme  could  be  put  into 
execution  a  vacancy  at  University  College,  Bristol, 
presented  itself. 

The  story  goes  that  his  knowledge  of  Dutch  saved  the 
day.  According  to  this  account  one  of  the  members  of 
the  University  Council,  a  minister,  was  much  perplexed 
with  a  Dutch  text  in  his  possession,  and  Ramsay  volun- 

2 "  It  was  while  blowing  the  bulbs  used  in  this  research  (the 
volumes  of  liquids  at  their  boiling  point),  I  believe,  that  he  first 
became  aware  of  the  value  of  the  asset  he  possessed  for  physical 
work  in  his  skill  as  a  glass-blower.  He  had  learnt  the  art  at  Tub- 
ingen, although  it  was  only  in  his  later  researches  that  his  marvellous 
manipulative  power  was  fully  developed." — Sir  James  Dobbie. 

45 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

teered  a  translation.    The  result  was  Ramsay's  appoint- 
ment by  a  majority  of  one ! 

The  stipend  was  fixed  at  a  minimum  of  £400  ($2,000) 
per  year.  "  The  professor,"  read  the  contract,  "  will 
be  required  to  give  three  lectures  per  week  for  the 
first  two  terms,  say  60  lectures,  together  with  class 
instruction  in  connection  therewith  .  ,  .  and  a  short 
course  of  lectures  in  the  third  term.  He  will  also  be 
required  to  superintend  the  laboratory  during  the  whole 
session,  and  to  give  evening  lectures  once  a  week  during 
the  first  two  terms,  together  with  class  instruction  in 
connection  therewith.  .  .  .  The  scheme  of  the  College 
contemplates  the  possibility  of  occasional  lectures  being 
delivered  in  neighboring  towns  by  the  Professor  or  his 
assistant.  ...  In  connection  with  the  Cloth  working 
Industry,  special  instruction  in  dyeing,  etc.  may  be 
required  under  an  arrangement  not  yet  concluded 
with  the  worshipful  the  Cloth-workers'  Company  of 
London." 

The  professor,  not  yet  turned  thirty,  was  to  be  kept 
busy  on  the  job,  with  very  little  opportunity  for  research — 
an  altogether  minor  consideration  to  the  worthy  coun- 
cillors. But  they  had  not  reckoned  on  Ramsay's  energy 
and  capacity.  Determinations  of  the  density  of  gases, 
of  the  specific  volumes  of  liquids  at  their  boiling  point, 
of  the  vapor  pressures  and  critical  constants  of  liquids 
were  soon  in  full  blast.  And  then  came  those  classical 
determinations  on  the  thermal  properties  of  solids  and 
liquids,  and  on  evaporation  and  dissociation,  most  of 
which  was  done  with  his  assistant,  Young,  which  con- 
tinued at  full  blast  for  the  next  five  years  until  Ramsay's 
transfer  to  London.  This  appointment  came  hi  1887. 
By  that  time  Ramsay's  reputation  was  such  that  the 
following  year  he  was  elected  an  F.R.S.  (Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society). 

46 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

In  London  his  physico-chemical  researches  were 
further  extended.  Among  these,  particular  mention 
should  be  made  of  perhaps  the  most  brilliant  of  them 
all — the  measurement  of  surface  tension  up  to  the  critical 
temperature,  which  led  to  the  well-known  law  supplying 
us  with  a  method  for  determining  the  molecular  weight 
of  liquids.  Here  Ramsay  had  an  able  assistant  hi 
Shields. 

In  1890  the  British  Association  met  at  Leeds,  and  two 
of  the  great  Continental  founders  of  modern  physical 
Chemistry,  van't  Hoff  and  Ostwald,  were  present. 
Ramsay,  who  represented  the  school  in  England, 
naturally  took  a  keen  interest  in  this  meeting.  "  Ram- 
say and  Ostwald  met  for  the  first  tune  as  fellow-guests 
in  my  house,  which  became  accordingly  a  sort  of  cyclonic 
center  of  the  polemical  storm  that  raged  during  the  whole 
week.  .  .  .  The  discussion  was  incessant.  ...  I  re- 
member conducting  a  party  to  Fountains  Abbey  on  the 
Saturday  and  hearing  nothing  but  talk  of  the  ionic 
theory  amid  the  beauties  of  Studley  Royal.  The  climax, 
however,  was  reached  the  next  day,  Sunday.  The  dis- 
cussion began  at  luncheon  when  Fitzgerald  raised  the 
question  of  the  molecular  integrity  of  the  salt  in  the  soup 
and  walked  round  the  table  with  a  diagram  to  confound 
van't  Hoff  and  Ostwald.  .  .  .  Ramsay  was  no  silent 
spectator.  Being  a  convinced  ionist,  he  was  eager  in 
helping  out  the  expositions  of  Ostwald,  whose  English 
at  that  tune  was  imperfect  and  explosive,  and  his  wit 
and  humor  played  over  the  whole  proceedings.  .  .  . 
It  was  the  beginning  of  relations  of  great  mutual  sym- 
pathy and  regard  between  Ramsay  and  Ostwald,  which 
lasted  till  they  were  divided  by  their  respective  national 
sympathies  at  the  unhappy  outbreak  of  war." 3 

8  Professor  Smithells. 

47 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

And  now  we  come  to  a  momentous  event  in  the  career 
of  our  hero.  Lord  Raleigh  had  for  some  time  been  en- 
gaged hi  determinations  of  the  exact  densities  of  a 
number  of  gases.  Among  these  was  nitrogen.  In  his 
experiments  Raleigh  found  that  the  density  of  nitrogen 
obtained  from  the  air  was  slightly  but  consistently 
higher  than  that  obtained  from  artificial  sources.  Writ- 
ing to  Nature  (1892)  he  says:  "I  am  much  puzzled 
by  some  results  as  to  the  density  of  nitrogen  and  shall 
be  obliged  if  any  of  your  chemical  readers  can  offer  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  cause.  According  to  two  methods  of 
preparation  I  obtain  quite  distinct  values.  The  relative 
difference,  amounting  to  about  i/iooo  part,  is  small  hi 
itself;  but  it  lies  entirely  outside  the  errors  of  experi- 
ment." The  difference  in  the  weights  of  one  liter  of  the 
gas  obtained  in  the  one  case  from  atmospheric  air  and 
in  the  other  from  ammonia  varied  by  about  6  in  1,200, 
or  about  0.5  percent,  but  the  accuracy  of  the  method  did 
not  involve  an  error  of  more  than  0.02  percent. 

With  that  keen  scent  for  any  promising  material 
Ramsay  immediately  took  up  the  problem.  Some  years 
previous  he  had  found  that  nitrogen  is  absorbed  fairly 
readily  by  magnesium.  This  suggested  to  him  that  by 
first  getting  rid  of  the  oxygen  hi  the  air,  and  passing 
the  remaining  nitrogen  repeatedly  over  heated  magne- 
sium, any  other  gas  that  might  possibly  be  present  hi 
the  atmosphere  would  remain  unabsorbed.  This  tm- 
absorbed  gas  was  isolated  and  found  to  give  a  charac- 
teristic spectrum.  The  name  argon  (Gk.,  inert)  was 
given  to  the  newly  discovered  ingredient  of  the  atmos- 
phere. It  proved  to  be  more  refractory  than  the  com- 
paratively inert  nitrogen :  it  just  simply  would  not  make 
friends  and  combine  with  any  other  element! 

Shortly  after  this,  Ramsay's  attention  was  called  to 
some  experiments  of  Hillebrandt,  of  the  U.  S,  Geological 

48 


•g 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

Survey,  in  which  he  obtained  a  gas  believed  to  be  nitro- 
gen from  certain  minerals,  particularly  one  called 
cleveite,  but  which  was  now  suspected  to  contain  argon 
as  well.  Ramsay  lost  no  time.  From  it  he  obtained 
argon,  to  be  sure,  but  also  another  gas,  with  a  spectrum 
all  its  own,  which  showed  it  to  be  identical  with  an  ele- 
ment present  in  the  chromosphere  of  the  sun,  and  which 
until  then  had  been  considered  peculiar  to  the  sun. 
Lockyer  years  ago  gave  the  name  "  helium  "  to  it,  and 
now  Ramsay  had  rediscovered  it  on  mother  earth. 
But  let  the  discoverer  himself  tell  the  exciting  news. 
On  the  24th  of  March,  1895,  he  writes  to  his  wife:4 
"  Let's  take  the  biggest  piece  of  news  first.  I  bottled 
the  new  gas  in  a  vacuum  tube,  and  arranged  so  that  I 
could  see  its  spectrum  and  that  of  argon  in  the  same 
spectroscope  at  the  same  time.  There  is  argon  in  the 
gas;  but  there  was  a  magnificent  yellow  line,  brilliantly 
bright,  not  coincident  with  but  very  close  to  the  sodium 
yellow  line.  I  was  puzzled  but  began  to  smell  a  rat. 
I  told  Crookes,5  and  on  Saturday  morning  when  Harley, 
Shields,6  and  I  were  looking  at  the  spectrum  in  the 
dark  room  a  telegram  came  from  Crookes.  He  had  sent 
a  copy  here7  and  I  enclose  that  copy.  You  may  wonder 
what  it  means.  Helium  is  the  name  given  to  a  line 
in  the  solar  spectrum,  known  to  belong  to  an  element, 

4  Ramsay  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  George  Stevenson 
Buchanan,  in  August,  1881,  soon  after  he  had  been  appointed 
Principal  of  Bristol  College — a  position  he  attained  one  year  after 
his  arrival  in  Bristol.  This  union  proved  a  particularly  happy  one. 
"  To  have  such  a  helpmate  as  my  wife  has  brought  me  happiness 
which  I  must  acknowledge  with  the  greatest  thankfulness."  And 
at  a  later  date  he  wrote  to  a  friend:  "  You  have  got  a  good  son 
and  daughter  and  that  is  much  to  rejoice  at.  So  have  I." 

6  Sir  William  Crooks,  the  famous  physicist  and  chemist. 

&  His  two  assistants. 

7 12  Arundel  Gardens,  their  home. 

49 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

but  that  element  has  hitherto  been  unknown  on  earth. 
...  It  is  quite  overwhelming  and  beats  argon.  I  tele- 
graphed to  Berthelot8  at  once  yesterday—'  Gaz  obtenu 
par  moi  clevite  melange  argon  helium.  Crookes  iden- 
tifie  spectre.  Faites  communication  Academic  lundi. — 
Ramsay.'  ...  I  have  written  Lord  Raleigh  and  I'll 
send  a  note  to  the  R.S.  [Royal  Society]  to-morrow.  .  .  ." 

The  first  public  account  of  helium  was  given  to  a  semi- 
bewildered  audience  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
chemical  society  in  1895,  on  the  occasion  of  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  Faraday  medal  to  Lord  Raleigh.  Further 
investigations  proved  that  helium  occurred  hi  quite  a 
number  of  minerals  and  mineral  waters.  To  Kayser, 
however,  was  left  the  proof  of  its  presence  in  the  air. 
Like  argon  it  simply  refused  to  combine  with  any  other 
substance. 

To  the  ancients  air  was  a  source  of  investigation,  and 
it  had  remained  so.  Till  1894  no  one,  least  of  all  a 
scientist,9  would  have  suspected  the  existence  in  the 
atmosphere  of  undiscovered  elements.  Ramsay  and 
Raleigh's  discovery  shook  the  scientific  world.  Recog- 
nition came  from  all  parts.  Lord  Kelvin,  as  president 
of  the  Royal  Society,  presented  Ramsay  with  the  Davy 
Medal,  with  the  following  comment:  "...  The  re- 
searches on  which  the  award  of  the  Davy  Medal  to 
Professor  Ramsay  is  chiefly  founded  are,  firstly,  those 
which  he  has  carried  on,  in  conjunction  with  Lord 
Raleigh,  in  the  investigation  of  the  properties  of  argon, 
and  in  the  discovery  of  unproved  and  rapid  methods  of 
getting  it  from  the  atmosphere;  and  secondly,  the  dis- 
covery in  certain  rare  minerals,  of  a  new  elementary 
gas  which  appears  to  be  identical  with  the  hitherto  hypo- 
thetical solar  element,  to  which  Mr.  Lockyer  many  years 

8  A  famous  French  chemist. 

9  Cavendish,  in  1785,  did  suspect  some  such  possibility. 

50 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

ago  gave  the  name  of  '  helium."  .  .  .  The  conferring  of 
the  Davy  Medal  on  Professor  Ramsay  is  a  crowning  act 
of  recognition  of  his  work  on  argon  and  helium  which 
has  already  been  recognised  as  worthy  of  honor  by 
scientific  societies  in  other  countries.  For  his  dis- 
coveries of  these  gases  he  has  already  been  awarded  the 
Foreign  Membership  of  the  Societe  Philosophique  de 
Geneve  and  of  the  Leyden  Philosophical  Society.  He 
has  had  the  Barnard  Medal  of  Columbia  College  awarded 
to  him  by  the  American  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  within 
the  last  few  weeks  he  has  been  elected  a  Foreign  Cor- 
respondent of  the  French  Academic  des  Sciences." 

Such  was  the  excitement  aroused  by  these  discoveries 
that  even  young  students  were  filled  with  the  epidemic. 
We  are  told  that  "  answers  to  examination  questions 
showed  that  oxygen  as  a  constituent  of  our  air  was 
almost  forgotten  hi  the  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  candi- 
date to  show  that  he  or  she  knew  all  about  argon." 

But  Ramsay  had  not  yet  sufficiently  dumbfounded  his 
scientific  confreres.  From  a  careful  study  of  Mende- 
leeff  's  periodic  grouping  of  the  elements,  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  another  inert  gas  ought  to  exist  between 
helium  and  argon,  employing  a  process  of  reasoning  quite 
analogous  to  one  used  by  the  celebrated  Russian  many 
years  before  when,  with  the  help  of  his  periodic  table, 
he  predicted  the  discovery  of  new  elements.  Ramsay 
ransacked  every  possible  source  for  this  new  element: 
minerals  from  all  parts  of  the  globe,  mineral  waters  from 
Britain,  France  and  Iceland;  meteorites  from  inter- 
stellar space — all  without  result.  A  clue  was  at  length 
obtained  when  he  found  that  by  diffusion  argon  could  be 
separated  into  a  lighter  and  heavier  portion.  This  sug- 
gested the  presence  of  the  unknown  gas  as  an  impurity 

'And  helium,  the  inert  gas,  a  chemical  curiosity  in  1895,  is  now 
displacing  hydrogen  in  baloons! 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

in  argon.  It  was  evident  that  the  unknown  gas,  if 
present,  could  be  there  in  minute  quantities  only  to  have 
escaped  detection.  That  meant  that  the  larger  the 
quantity  of  argon  employed  the  better  the  possibilities 
of  getting  appreciable  quantities  of  the  unknown  con- 
stituent. 

A  simple  method  of  separating  the  constituents  in  a 
mixture  of  liquids  is  to  boil  the  mixture,  and  collect 
fractions  of  the  condensed  vapor.  Each  constituent  will 
usually  go  off  at  a  fairly  definite  temperature.  This,  hi 
principle,  was  the  method  employed  by  Ramsay,  and  his 
assistant,  Travers.  They  prepared  to  begin  with,  no 
less  than  15  liters  of  liquid  argon!  "  On  distilling  liquid 
argon,  the  first  portions  of  the  gas  to  boil  off  were  found 
to  be  lighter  than  argon;  and  on  allowing  the  liquid  air 
to  boil  off  slowly,  heavier  gases  came  off  at  last.  It  was 
easy  to  recognise  these  gases  by  help  of  the  spectroscope, 
for  the  light  gas,  to  which  we  gave  the  name  neon  or 
*  the  new  one,'  when  electrically  excited  emits  a  bril- 
liant flame  colored  light;  and  one  of  the  heavy  gases, 
which  we  called  krypton  or  *  the  hidden  one '  is  char- 
acterised by  two  brilliant  lines,  one  in  the  yellow  and 
one  hi  the  green  part  of  the  spectrum.  The  third  gas, 
named  xenon  or  '  the  stranger '  gives  out  a  greenish- 
blue  light,  and  is  remarkable  for  a  very  complex  spectrum 
in  which  blue  lines  are  conspicuous."  10 

A  trio,  neon,  xenon,  krypton,  added  to  helium  and 
argon — making  five  new  gases — and  all  in  the  atmos- 
phere ! 

Further  recognition  came  from  the  Chemical  Society 
of  London.  They  awarded  Ramsay  the  Longstaff  medal, 
given  triennially  to  the  Fellow  of  the  Chemical  Society 
who,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Council,  has  done  the  most 
to  promote  Chemical  science  by  research.  "If  I  may 

10  Ramsay,  quoted  by  Letts. 

53 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

say  a  word  of  disparagement,"  added  Mr.  Vernon  Har- 
court,  the  president,  in  presenting  the  medal,  "  it  is  " 
—and  here  we  can  see  the  twinkle  in  his  eye — "  that 
these  elements  (argon,  helium,  etc.)  are  hardly  worthy 
of  the  position  in  which  they  are  placed.  If  other  ele- 
ments were  of  the  same  unsociable  character  Chemistry 
would  not  exist." 

Ramsay's  studies  on  helium  led  him  to  ponder  over 
this  question:  why  is  helium  found  hi  only  minerals 
which  contain  uranium  and  thorium — substances  which 
give  rise  to  radio-active  phenomena?  Attempts  to 
answer  this  led  him  into  the  field  of  radio-activity,  with 
results  which  even  surpassed  his  investigations  on  the 
inert  gases  of  the  atmosphere.  In  1903,  in  conjunction 
with  Soddy,  he  succeeded  in  proving  that  helium,  an 
element,  could  be  produced  from  radium,  another  ele- 
ment. The  transmutation  of  the  elements  come  to  life 
again!  Those  poor,  foolish  old  alchemists,  we  were 
always  led  to  believe,  wasted  their  lives  in  vain  attempts 
to  transmute  the  base  metals  into  gold.  And  here 
comes  the  dashing  Ramsay,  bold,  as  usual,  to  audacity, 
and  calmly  announces  that  his  experiments  prove  the 
alchemists  not  to  have  been  such  fools  after  all! 

Succeeding  experiments  on  the  action  of  radium  salts 
on  copper  and  lead  solutions  led  Ramsay  to  believe  that 
copper  and  lead  can  undergo  disintegration  into  sodium 
and  lithium  respectively — two  entirely  different  ele- 
ments! These  latter  claims  still  wait  to  be  verified, 
but  there  is  reasonable  hope  for  assuming  that  various 
experimenters  throughout  the  world  will  soon  undertake 
the  task  of  carefully  repeating  the  entire  work,  now  that 
peace  is  once  again  with  us.11 

A  fitting  award  for  these  achievements  was  the  be- 
stowal of  the  Nobel  Prize  to  Ramsay  in  1904.  The  dis- 

11  See  the  article  on  Madame  Curie. 

53 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

tribution  of  the  prizes  took  place  in  Stockholm  on  Decem- 
ber loth  of  that  year,  in  the  presence  of  King  Oscar  and 
the  royal  family,  foreign  ministers  and  members  of  the 
cabinet,  and  many  leading  representatives  of  science, 
art  and  literature.  After  speeches  had  been  delivered 
by  the  vice-president  and  other  representatives  of  the 
Nobel  Committee,  and  of  the  Academies  of  Science, 
medicine  and  literature,  King  Oscar  personally  pre- 
sented Lord  Rayleigh  (prize  winner  in  physics),  Sir 
William  Ramsay12  (chemistry)  and  Professor  Pavloff 
(physiology)  with  their  prizes,  together  with  diplomas 
and  gold  medals.13  The  distribution  of  the  prizes  was 
followed  by  a  banquet,  at  which  the  Crown  Prince  pre- 
sided. Count  Morner  proposed  the  health  of  Professor 
Pavloff,  Professor  Petterson  that  of  Sir  William  Ramsay, 
and  Professor  Hasselberg  that  of  Lord  Rayleigh.  The 
following  day  Ramsay  delivered  a  lecture  on  argon  and 
helium  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  which  was  followed 
by  a  dinner  given  in  his  honor  by  King  Oscar. 
Writing  from  Switzerland  to  a  friend  some  weeks  later 
Ramsay  says:  "  We  had  a  most  gorgeous  time  for  nearly 
a  week,  dining  with  all  the  celetrities,  including  old  King 
Oscar.  The  old  gentleman  was  very  kindly  and  took 
Lord  R.  and  me  into  his  private  room  and  showed  us  all 
his  curiosities,  the  portraits  of  his  sons  when  they  were 
children  and  his  reliques  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  of 
Charles  XII.  The  Crown  Prince  told  Mag  (his  wife) 
that  it  was  a  difficult  job  to  be  a  king,  thereby  confirming 
the  Swan  of  Avon.  He  said  that  whatever  one  supposed 
a  Norwegian  would  do  he  invariably  did  the  opposite. 
Indeed  there  was  nearly  a  bloodless  revolution  while 

12  Ramsay  had  been  created  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath 
(K.C.B.)  in  1902,  which  carried  with  it  the  title  of  "  Sir." 

13  The  sum  of  money  attached  to  each  prize  amounts  to  about 
$40,000. 

54 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

we  were  there ;  the  Prime  Minister  of  Norway  was  there 
and  I  believe  the  dilemma  was  only  postponed." 

Ramsay  remained  at  University  College  until  1912, 
when  he  retired.  Two  years  prior  to  this,  in  conjunction 
with  Dr.  Gray,  he  determined  the  density  of  the  emana- 
tion obtained  from  radium  (which  Ramsay  named  niton) 
involving  the  mastery  of  experimental  detail  which  estab- 
lished him  once  for  all  as  the  great  wizard  of  the  labor- 
atory. The  total  volume  of  the  gas  under  examination 
was  not  much  beyond  i/io  cubic  millimeter — a  bubble 
which  can  scarcely  be  seen.  To  weigh  this  amount  at 
all  accurately  required  a  balance  turning  with  a  load  not 
greater  than  1/100,000  milligram. 

When  war  broke  out  Ramsay  placed  his  services  at 
the  disposal  of  the  government.  Much  he  could  not  do. 
In  July,  1915,  he  writes  to  a  friend  that  he  had  had 
several  huge  polypi  extracted  from  his  left  nostril.  "  I 
have  stood  them  for  years,  one  gets  into  the  habit  of 
bearing  discomforts,  but  it  is  a  great  relief."  The  relief 
was  to  be  only  temporary.  Another  operation  became 
necessary  in  November.  "I  was  in  the  surgeon's 
hands  on  November  loth  and  again  on  the  isth,  and  he 
did  an  operation  on  my  left  antrum  for  a  tumor,  I  believe 
very  successfully.  Since  then,  last  Monday,  I  was 
irradiated  for  24  hrs.  with  X-rays  as  a  precaution  against 
recurrence.  Luckily  it  is  of  the  kind  which  can  be 
stopped  by  Radium.  I  have  had  a  very  bad  time." 
He  died  on  July  23,  1916. 

Ramsay  had  lived  not  a  long  life,  but  a  very  fruitful 
and  happy  one.  Writing  to  president  Ira  Remsen,  of 
Johns  Hopkins,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  Ramsay 
concludes  his  letter  with  "  Well,  I  am  tired,  and  must 
stop.  I  look  back  on  my  long  friendship  with  you14  as 

14  Dating  back  to  the  Tubingen  days. 

55 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

a  very  happy  episode  in  a  very  happy  life;  for  my  life 
has  been  a  very  happy  one." 

Ramsay  was  many-sided.  He  was  an  excellent  ex- 
ample of  the  very  opposite  of  Punch's  dry-as-dust 
philosopher.  Among  musicians15  and  among  artists16 
he  held  his  own,  for  he  was  an  accomplished  amateur  in 
both  groups.  As  a  linguist  he  probably  has  had  few 
equals  among  scientists.  And  those  of  us  who,  as  late 
as  1912,  heard  him  move  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Professor 
Gabriel  Bertrand,  of  the  Sorbonne,  after  the  latter's 
lecture  to  the  members  of  the  International  Congress 
of  Chemists,  will  have  formed  a  pretty  good  picture  of 
his  charm  and  ability  as  a  speaker. 

Of  the  many  letters  that  have  been  preserved,  perhaps 
none  sums  up  so  well  the  characteristics  of  Ramsay  as 
the  following,  written  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Dobbie : 

"LE  HAVRE, 

"  Monday,  the  Something  or  other  August,  1877. 
"  My  dear  Debbie, 

"  Some  fool  of  a  Frenchman  has  stolen  all  the  paper 
belonging  to  the  French  Association,  and  has  left  only 
this  hah*  sheet  with  Le  Havre  at  the  top.  From  the  pre- 
ceding sentence  you  will  have  already  guessed  that  the 
French  Ass.  is  capering  around  Havre  at  present,  that  I 
form  one  of  the  distinguished  foreign  members,  and 

15 "  I  spent  many  evenings  at  their  home,  where  William  (Ram- 
say) enlivened  the  company  with  songs,  which  in  later  years  were 
greeted  with  enthusiastic  applause  by  his  students  at  social  evenings 
of  the  University  College  Students*  Club.  ...  He  had  a  very 
good  voice,  played  his  own  accompanyments,  and  was  an  expert 
whistler." — Otto  Hehner,  a  friend. 

"  "  Another  amusement  of  Ramsay's  was  sketching  in  water 
colors,  an  art  in  which  he  possessed  no  inconsiderable  share  of 
the  talent  which  belongs  to  his  cousins,  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay's 
family." — Sir  James  Dobbie. 

56 


WILLIAM  RAMSAY 

that  all  is  going  as  merrily  as  a  marriage  bell.  Voici  5 
jours  that  I  find  myself  here.  I  went  to  Paris  with 
three  spirits  more  wicked  than  myself,  lawyers — a  fear- 
ful compound  3  lawyers  and  a  chemist — just  like  NCU  for 
all  the  world,  liable  to  explode  at  any  moment.  .  .  . 
I  have  made  the  acquaintance  with  a  whole  lot  of  chem- 
ists, Dutch  and  French,  and  have  found  an  old  Dutch- 
man named  Gunning  ravished  to  find  someone  who 
shares  his  ideas  about  matter,  chemical  combination, 
etc.  We  excurted  yesterday  the  whole  day  and  talked 
French  and  German  alternately  all  the  time.  When 
we  wanted  to  be  particularly  distinct  French  was  all  the 
go.  For  energy  and  strong  denunciation  German  came 
of  use.  You  can't  say  *  Potz-teufel ! '  in  French  or 
*  Donnerwetter  potztausend  sacramento ! '  An  old  cove, 
also  a  Dutchman,  DeVrig,  with  bowly  legs  and  a  visage 
like  this  (sketch  profile)  is  also  a  very  nice  old  boy. 
The  nose  is  the  chief  feature  of  resemblance  in  the 
annexed  representation.  Wurtz  and  Schukenberger 
are  both  Alsatians  and  of  course  are  much  more  ge- 
muthlich  than  the  echter  Franzose,  but  on  the  whole  the 
fellows  I  have  got  to  know  are  very  pleasant.  Some  of 
the  younger  lot  and  I  kneipe  every  evening.  Then  we 
bathe  every  day  too  in  fine  stormy  water.17  Eh  bien, 
what  is  there  to  say  of  more?  I  am  going  straight  back 
to  Glasgow  on  Wednesday  by  the  special  steamer  to 

17 "  He  (Ramsay)  was  a  very  strong  and  graceful  swimmer  and 
could  dive  further  than  any  amateur  I  have  seen.  When  we  were 
in  Paris  in  1876  the  four  of  us  used  to  go  to  one  of  the  baths  in 
the  Seine  every  forenoon,  and  after  the  first  time,  when  Ramsay 
was  ready  to  dive,  the  bathman  would  pass  round  the  word  that 
the  Englishman  was  going  to  dive,  and  everyone  in  the  establish- 
ment, including  the  washerwoman  outside,  would  crowd  in  and  take 
up  positions  to  watch  him.  He  dived  the  whole  length  of  the  bath 
and  sometimes  turned  there  under  water  and  came  back  a  part  of 
the  length."— H.  B.  Fyfe,  a  life-long  friend. 

57 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Glasgow.  My  money  is  about  done,  so  I  must  bolt. 
...  By  the  way  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  I  had  the  cheek 
to  read  a  communication  on  picoline,  in  French,  which 
was  received  with  loud  applause.  There  was  some 
remarks  made  afterwards  very  favorable,  tho'  I  say  it  as 
shouldn't  say  it.  Adoo.  Write  to  Glasgow  and  tell 
me  Wie's  Geht.  "  Yours  very  Sincerely, 

"W.  RAMSAY." 

References 

For  much  of  the  material  I  am  indebted  to  Tilden's 
life  of  Ramsay  (i).  A  fine  appreciation  of  Ramsay  at 
his  prime  is  given  by  Ostwald  (2).  Soddy's  (3)  is  a 
lovely  tribute  by  a  gifted  writer.  T.  C.  Chaudhuri  (4) 
is  responsible  for  an  appreciative  little  memoir,  full  of 
oriental  coloring.  Ramsay's  two  books  (5,  6)  deal  with 
the  gases  of  the  atmosphere  and  radium. 

1.  Sir  W.  A.  Tilden:    Sir  William  Ramsay  (Macmillan  and  Co. 

1918). 

2.  Wilhelm   Ostwald:    Sir  William  Ramsay.    Nature   (London), 

88,  339  (1912). 

3.  Frederick  Soddy:   Sir  William  Ramsay.    Nature  (London),  97, 

482  (1916). 

4.  T.  C.  Chaudhuri:    Sir  William  Ramsay  (Butterworth  and  Co., 

India.    1918). 

5.  William  Ramsay:    The  Gases  of  the  Atmosphere  (Macmillan 

and  Co.    1902). 

6.  William  Ramsay:  Essays  Biographical  and  Chemical  (Constable 

and  Co.,  London.     1908).     (See  the  chapter  on  radium  and 
its  products.) 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

lURING  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  William  T.  Richards  rose  to  a  posi- 
tion of  prominence  among  American  artists. 
His  paintings  of  landscape,  particularly  his 
interpretations  of  the  varying  aspects  of  the  ocean  beat- 
ing upon  beach  and  rock,  won  high  praise  and  eventually 
earned  for  him  the  gold  medal  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  His  wife,  Anna  Matlock,  whom 
he  married  in  1856  when  some  twenty-odd  years  old, 
was  like  her  husband,  a  woman  of  artistic  talent,  though 
in  her  case  it  showed  itself  in  the  publication  of  verse. 
Of  their  six  children,  one  of  whom,  Herbert  Maule,  is 
to-day  a  professor  of  botany  at  Barnard  College,  and 
two  others,  Mrs.  Eleanor  French  Price  and  Mrs.  Wm. 
Tenney  Brewster  are  painters,  we  are  particularly  inter- 
ested in  the  fourth,  Theodore  William,  who  was  born  in 
the  house  of  his  grandfather,  Dr.  Charles  F.  Matlock, 
hi  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  on  Jan.  31,  1868. 

The  family  were  in  very  comfortable  circumstances. 
In  addition  to  their  home  in  Germantown  they  had  a 
summer  one  in  Newport,  and  occasionally  they  would 
forsake  both  for  extensive  travels  in  Europe. 

The  poor  schools  in  Pennsylvania  at  that  time,  as  well 
as  the  uncertainty  of  the  family's  stay  at  any  one  place 
for  any  length  of  tune,  made  it  necessary  for  the  children 
to  receive  privately  their  most  elementary  education. 
For  this  task  Mrs.  Richards  was  eminently  well  fitted. 
Young  Theodore  gradually  passed  from  "  Alice "  to 
history  and  languages,  and  with  little  effort  quickly  over- 
took his  playmates  who  attended  school. 

59 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Naturally  the  boy's  first  desire  was  to  become  an 
artist.  Was  not  his  father  the  greatest  of  men,  and 
could  a  son  of  his  do  less  than  follow  in  his  footsteps? 
Filial  reverence  lost  none  of  its  force  with  time,  but  a 
desire  to  paint,  slowly  and  quite  unconsciously,  gave  place 
to  a  desire  to  become  a  scientist.  This  showed  itself 
even  before  he  was  thirteen. 

The  query  naturally  suggests  itself,  what  started  him 
on  this  track?  His  mother  and  father,  aside  from  art, 
were  very  much  interested  hi  Tennyson  and  Browning, 
and  literature  hi  general.  An  intimate  friend  of  the 
family's  was  Frank  R.  Stockton,  the  author.  From  none 
of  these  three  could  Theodore  have  obtained  much  sci- 
entific inspiration. 

There  remained  then  his  grandfather,  the  doctor,  and 
still  another  close  friend  of  the  family's — Josiah  Parsons 
Cooke,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Harvard.  That  the 
boy  got  much  of  his  inspiration  from  this  Harvard  pro- 
fessor seems  pretty  certain.  Even  before  he  entered 
Harvard  Young  Richards  had  already  mastered  Cooke's 
The  New  Chemistry,  and  was  quite  a  match  for  many 
of  the  students  with  several  years'  chemistry  to  their 
credit. 

Genius  young  Richards  could  well  have  inherited, 
in  part  at  least,  from  his  parents;  the  bent  of  this  genius 
towards  science  must  to  a  certain  extent  be  credited  to 
Cooke;  but  the  further  quality  of  taking  infinite  pains 
with  details,  so  essential  to  every  scientist,  and  one 
which  Richards  possesses  in  a  supreme  degree,  seems 
to  have  been  directly  transmitted  from  father  to  son. 
Note  this  description  of  the  artist:  "He  stood  for 
hours  hi  the  early  days  of  Atlantic  City  or  Cape  May 
with  folded  arms,  studying  the  motions  of  the  sea — 
until  people  thought  him  insane.  After  days  of  gazing, 
he  made  pencil  notes  of  the  action  of  the  water.  He 

60 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

even  stood  for  hours  in  a  bathing  suit  among  the  waves, 
trying  to  analyse  the  motion." 

Yet  still  another  inheritance.  What  soon  strikes  a 
reader  hi  glancing  over  Richards'  contributions  to  chem- 
istry is  the  fine  unity  of  purpose  which  pervades  all  his 
work:  a  desire  to  penetrate  ever  deeper  into  the  myster- 
ies of  creation.  This  philosophical  bent  may  be  traced 
to  his  mother,  whose  verses  abound  with  fine  feeling 
and  deep  thought. 

Richards,  barely  fifteen,  entered  Haverford  College, 
Pennsylvania,  with  this  advice  from  his  mother  in  his 
pocket: 

Fear  not  to  go  where  fearless  Science  leads, 
Who  holds  the  keys  of  God. 

At  Haverford,  aided  by  a  retentive  memory  and  a 
desire  for  knowledge,  Richards  made  rapid  strides, 
particularly  in  chemistry  and  astronomy.  But  he  was 
not  a  bookworm ;  though  somewhat  delicate  hi  physique, 
with  eyes  that  needed  careful  nursing,  he  took  an  active 
part  hi  the  less  strenuous  exercises  such  as  lawn  tennis, 
skating  and  swimming. 

But  Cooke  was  not  at  Haverford,  and  Richards  wanted 
Cooke.  He  wanted  him  badly  now  because  he,  Richards, 
also  wanted  to  be  a  chemist,  and  because  he,  like  Cooke, 
was  particularly  interested  hi  the  philosophy  of  chem- 
istry. Then  there  were  other  men  at  Harvard  whose 
acquaintance  Richards  was  anxious  to  make.  Wolcot 
Gibbs,  C.  L.  Jackson,  and  H.  B.  Hill  were  men  who 
counted  hi  chemical  councils  of  the  day. 

Richards,  then,  wanted  to  complete  his  bachelor's 
degree  at  Harvard.  The  reasons  he  gave  for  desiring 
to  change  were  quite  sufficient  for  his  parents.  They 
understood  and  encouraged,  as  they  continued  to  do 
to  the  end  of  their  days.  Their  motto  from  the  first  was : 
give  him  the  best  that's  in  you,  but  let  nature  play  its 

61 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

part;  guide  much,  but  force  nothing.  So  Richards  set 
out  for  Cambridge,  there  to  join  the  senior  class. 

In  the  following  year  (1886)  Richards  splendidly  justi- 
fied the  cherished  hopes  of  his  parents  by  graduating 
with  summa  cum  laude  and  highest  honors  in  chemistry. 
There  could  be  no  further  question  as  to  his  future. 
He  had  made  a  brilliant  start  in  chemistry,  and  chemistry 
it  was  to  be. 

When  one  considers  the  extent  to  which  research  in 
America  is  carried  to-day  it  comes  as  a  surprise  to  learn 
that  even  as  late  as  1880  very  few  research  investigators 
were  to  be  found  at  any  one  of  the  colleges.  At  Harvard, 
for  example,  although  the  Erving  Professorship  of 
Chemistry  had  been  founded  as  early  as  1792,  Josiah 
Parsons  Cooke  (1827-94)  was  the  first  occupant  of  the 
chair  to  take  any  real  interest  in  investigations.  These 
led  to  problems  dealing  with  the  combining  proportions 
of  elements  to  form  compounds. 

Combining  proportions  of  elements  is  glibly  enough 
discussed  by  every  high  school  boy,  but  Cooke  could 
penetrate  much  below  the  surface  of  things,  and  Cooke 
led  his  students  on  his  own  philosophic  path.  Needless 
to  add,  Richards  was  one  of  the  enthusiastic  followers. 

Under  Cooke's  guidance  Richards  began  an  investi- 
gation of  the  atomic  weight  of  oxygen.  [See  the 
article  on  Mendeleeff  for  the  meaning  of  atomic 
weights.j 

Richards  soon  showed  that  the  accepted  atomic  weight 
for  oxygen  was  too  high.  But  more  than  that:  the 
method  of  procedure  had  elements  of  novelty,  and  the 
extraordinary  care  taken  to  avoid  errors  in  manipulation 
centred  attention  upon  the  work. 

The  use  of  copper  oxide  in  the  determination  of  the 
atomic  weight  of  oxygen  made  it  most  desirable  to  be 
certain  of  the  purity  of  this  substance.  Its  somewhat 

62 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

anomalous  behavior  led  the  young  investigator  to  ques- 
tion the  accuracy  of  the  accepted  atomic  weight  of 
copper,  and  by  a  careful  investigation  of  the  matter,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  showed  that  the  copper  oxide 
which  previous  investigators  had  used  contained  nitrogen 
as  an  impurity,  Richards  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  atomic  weight  of  copper  as  given  by  other  investi- 
gators was  too  high.  The  differences  to  be  sure  were 
fractions  of  one  percent,  but  they  were  entirely  beyond 
all  possibilities  of  experimental  error. 

These  two  researches  were  conducted  before  Richards 
reached  his  twentieth  year.  Two  results  immediately 
followed  therefrom:  the  boy  Richards  had  become  a 
force  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  he  had  discovered  just 
that  particular  department  of  the  science  for  which  he 
was  best  fitted. 

In  1888,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  Richards  received  his 
Ph.D.  "  Before  this,  the  greatest  wish  of  my  life  had 
begun  to  develop — namely,  an  intense  desire  to  know 
something  more  definite  about  the  material  and  ener- 
getic structure  of  the  universe  hi  which  our  lot  is  cast. 
Advancement  in  academic  position,  although  prized 
because  necessary  in  order  that  a  normal  life  should  be 
possible,  was  subordinate  to  this  great  interest.  At  first 
perhaps  my  desire  began  as  a  feeling  little  above  mere 
curiosity,  but  by  degrees  I  realized  that  gain  in  knowledge 
would  mean  for  humanity  gain  in  power,  which  I  thought 
of  primarily  as  gain  in  power  for  good.  By  instinct  and 
education,  although  not  by  formal  connection,  I  was  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  (or  Quakers),  in  whose  minds 
peace  and  goodwill  to  men  were  foremost;  and  I  dwelt 
little  upon  the  sinister  uses  to  which  the  increased  power 
found  by  science  could  be  put.  ...  It  is  not  the  fault 
of  science  if  mankind  is  so  little  civilized  as  to  misuse  its 
great  potential  benefits.  ..." 
6  63 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

"  The  atomic  weights  seem  to  be  among  the  primal 
mysteries  of  the  universe.  They  are  values  which  no 
man  by  taking  thought  can  change;  they  seem  to  be 
independent  of  place  and  time.  They  are  silent  wit- 
nesses of  the  very  beginnings  of  things,  and  their  half- 
hidden,  half-disclosed  numerical  relations,  in  connection 
with  the  undoubted  similarities  in  chemical  properties 
of  certain  groups  of  elements,  only  increase  one's 
curiosity  concerning  them.  .  .  ." 

We  see  here  clearly  enough  that  even  thus  early  in  life 
atomic  weight  determinations  to  Richards  were  a  means 
and  not  an  end.  To  get  finally  at  fundamentals  required  in 
the  meantime  years  of  patient  labor,  ingenuity  and  skill. 

Richards,  of  course,  was  not  the  pioneer  in  atomic 
weight  determinations.  From  the  time  of  Dalton  more 
than  one  hundred  years  ago,  many  workers  had  pointed 
out  their  significance.  Prominent  among  these  were 
Avogadro  and  Cannizzaro,  two  Italian  scientists;  Ber- 
zelius,  a  Swede;  and  Stas  a  Belgian.  The  classi- 
fication of  the  elements  based  on  their  atomic  weights 
resulted  in  MendeleefFs  Periodic  Law,  which  in  turn 
gave  rise  to  much  further  experimental  work  to  explain 
apparent  inconsistencies  in  the  then  accepted  atomic 
weights.  Mendeleeff's  Law  also  offered  food  for  much 
reflection.  Why  could  the  weights  of  the  elements  be 
so  arranged  as  to  exhibit  at  a  glance  the  close  chemical 
and  physical  relationship  of  many  of  them?  Was  this 
relation  due  to  their  origin  from  some  parent  substance? 

Reflections  such  as  these  led  Richards  to  the  view 
that  an  answer  to  such  a  question  could  be  obtained  only 
by  a  much  more  careful  examination  of  properties  of  the 
elements,  and  among  these,  atomic  weight  stood  first 
on  the  list.1 

1  Recently  (1913-1914)  Mosely,  an  English  physicist,  by  studying 
the  high-frequency  spectra  emitted  by  different  elements  when  used 

64 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

The  great  promise  he  had  shown,  and  the  hearty  sup- 
port which  he  received  from  Cooke,  enabled  Richards  to 
secure  one  of  those  valuable  Harvard  Travelling  Fellow- 
ships, and  during  1888-89  he  spent  much  of  the  time  at 
Gottingen,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  Victor 
Meyer  and  his  vapor  density  method,  Walter  Hempel 
and  his  gas  manipulations,  and  worked  directly  with 
Paul  Jannasch  on  the  estimation  of  oil  of  vitriol  in  the 
presence  of  iron.  On  his  way  home  he  stayed  in  England 
long  enough  to  form  friendships  which  were  to  prove 
life-long. 

What  Richards  got  from  his  travels  abroad  is  much 
what  the  young  graduate  gets  by  attending  large  sci- 
entific gatherings;  he  saw  in  flesh  and  blood  men  whose 
fame  had  reached  him,  he  was  introduced  to  some  of 
them,  and  caught  their  enthusiasm  and  lofty  vision. 

On  his  return  to  Harvard  Richards  was  appointed  to 
an  assistantship,  and  two  years  later  he  became  an  in- 
structor. Needless  to  add,  the  interrupted  work  on 

as  targets  in  an  X-ray  bulb,  has  shown  "  that  there  is  in  the  atom 
a  fundamental  quantity,  which  increases  by  regular  steps  as  we 
pass  from  one  element  to  the  next.  This  quantity  can  only  be  the 
charge  on  the  central  positive  nucleus." — Mosely,  quoted  by  Lowry, 
Historical  Introduction  to  Chemistry,  p.  493,  1915.  (See  also  the 
article  on  Madame  Curie.)  Mosely's  "  quantities,"  the  "  atomic 
numbers,"  are  the  source  of  much  scientific  activity  at  present. 
Of  Mosely,  the  author  of  these  "atomic  numbers,"  who  was 
killed  in  the  Great  War,  Prof.  R.  A.  Millikan,  the  distinguished 
physicist  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  has  this  to  say:  "  In  a  re- 
search which  is  destined  to  rank  as  one  of  the  dozen  most  brilliant 
in  conception,  skilful  in  execution,  and  illuminating  in  results  in 
the  history  of  science,  a  young  man  but  twenty-six  years  old  threw 
open  the  windows  through  which  we  can  now  glimpse  the  subatomic 
world  with  a  definiteness  and  certainty  never  even  dreamt  of  before. 
Had  the  European  war  had  no  other  result  than  the  snuffing  out 
of  this  young  life,  that  alone  would  make  it  one  of  the  most  hideous 
and  most  irreparable  crimes  in  history." 

65 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

atomic  weights  was  resumed  with  vigor.  Some  finish- 
ing touches  which  he  gave  to  his  copper  work,  hi  the 
course  of  which  barium  in  the  shape  of  one  of  its  salts  had 
to  be  used,  pointed  to  the  next  line  of  attack.  His 
results  led  him  to  the  view  that  the  atomic  weight  of 
barium  was  even  less  well  known  than  that  of  copper 
had  been. 

We  see  that  the  elements  were  never  selected  at 
random,  but  like  most  careful  and  thoughtful  work,  one 
experiment  led  to  another,  and  each  succeeding  experi- 
ment showed  elaborate  improvements  over  its  prede- 
cessor. Thus  in  this  barium  determination  Richards 
first  carefully  chose  a  compound  of  the  element  which 
could  be  easily  prepared  in  the  pure  state,  which  could 
be  dried  without  decomposition,  and  which  could  be 
readily  analysed.  The  compound  once  selected,  it  was 
now  prepared  in  no  less  than  seven  different  ways,  and 
each  one  was  found  to  have  the  same  composition.  Such 
was  the  accuracy  of  the  procedure  that  two  of  the  results 
for  the  atomic  weight  of  barium  differed  by  no  more  than 
one  six-thousandth  of  an  ounce,  and  these  were  shown 
to  vary  markedly  with  the  value  then  in  vogue. 

The  errors  which  other  experimenters  had  fallen  into 
with  their  barium  determinations  made  it  more  than 
probable  that  those  errors  had  been  repeated  with 
strontium,  an  element  chemically  very  closely  allied  to 
barium.  Such,  indeed,  proved  the  case;  and  here,  as 
before,  new  figures  were  given  and  the  old  errors  ex- 
plained. 

In  this  strontium  experiment  Richards  set  a  record 
for  exact  methods  of  procedure  which  have  never  been 
surpassed,  and  which  formed  the  basis  for  most  of  his 
subsequent  work  on  atomic  weights.  Here,  also,  by 
the  introduction  of  his  bottling  device,  which  gave  assur- 
ance that  purified  materials  could  be  kept  uncontami- 

66 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

nated  with  any  moisture,  and  the  use  of  the  nephelo- 
meter,  which  detected  minute  traces  of  suspended 
material,  "two  errors  were  obviated  .  .  .  which  have 
perhaps  ruined  more  previous  investigations  than  any 
other  two  causes.  .  .  ." 

The  standards  which  Richards  has  set  for  his  work 
are  summed  up  in  this  remark  of  his:  "Every  sub- 
stance must  be  assumed  to  be  impure,  every  reaction 
must  be  assumed  to  be  incomplete,  every  measurement 
must  be  assumed  to  contain  error,  until  proof  to  the 
contrary  can  be  obtained." 

Such  merit  could  not  go  unrewarded;  in  1894  Rich- 
ards was  promoted  to  an  assistant  professorship.  In 
the  following  year  the  fame  of  Ostwald's  school  at 
Leipzig,  and  the  desire  to  become  more  proficient  in 
physical  chemistry,  a  science  which  he  clearly  foresaw 
he  would  use  extensively,  led  him  once  again  to  Ger- 
many, and  here  he  remained  for  a  semester.  Not  long 
after  his  return  Richards  married  Miss  Miriam  Stuart 
Thayer,  the  daughter  of  Professor  J.  H.  Thayer,  the 
New  Testament  scholar.  They  have  a  daughter  and 
two  sons. 

Fame  Richards  had  already  attained,  but  there  was 
a  danger  in  another  direction.  Aside  from  his  salary, 
Richards  had  nothing,  and  the  salary  was  too  small  for  a 
man  with  family.  Passionately  interested  as  he  was  in 
research,  Richards  realized  only  too  clearly  that  it  was 
mot  a  "  money-getting-employment."  "  Money-get- 
ting "  meant  weary  hours  of  labor,  and  such  occupation 
could  hardly  be  engaged  in,  side  by  side  with  research, 
without  impairing  either  the  one,  or  the  other,  or,  what 
is  worse,  one's  health.  At  this  critical  hour  the  father 
istepped  in: 

"  My  father  .  .  .  advised  me  to  devote  myself  .  .  . 
to  research  ...  he  supported  this  advice  in  a  very 

67 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

practical  way  and  offered  ...  to  help  me,  out  of  his 
none  too  plentiful  means,  in  case  of  a  pinch,  rather 
than  permit  me  to  engage  in  the  distracting  task  of 
making  money  by  occupations  outside  of  my  main 
interest.  Later,  after  my  marriage  in  1896,  when  new 
cares  presented  themselves,  and  when  he  saw  that  there 
was  danger  of  my  overworking,  he  placed  into  my  hands 
a  sum  of  money  large  enough  to  enable  me  to  feel  that 
I  could  take  a  year's  rest  from  academic  work,  if  that 
should  prove  necessary.  The  relief  from  worry,  afforded 
by  this  sum  hi  a  savings  bank,  made  the  vacation 
unnecessary." 

"  There  is  no  question  that  this  generous  and  thought- 
ful confidence  was  a  very  important  factor  in  the  success 
of  a  not  very  optimistic  and  somewhat  delicate  young 
man,  then  entirely  without  any  capital  except  his  brains; 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  exaggerate  my  feeling  of 
gratitude.  My  wife  also  heartily  sympathised  with  my 
desire  to  conduct  investigation,  and  did  all  in  her  power 
to  encourage  the  work." 

Encouraged  in  this  way,  Richards  threw  himself  into 
his  work  with  a  wholeheartedness  and  enthusiasm  which 
knew  no  bounds.  Step  by  step,  with  one  research 
giving  rise  to  another,  he  redetermined  the  atomic 
weights  of  such  elements  as  zinc,  magnesium,  nickel, 
cobalt,  iron,  silver,  carbon,  nitrogen,  etc.,  and  in  each 
case  the  figures  he  obtained  showed  differences  with 
those  obtained  by  other  workers,  many  of  whom  were 
masters  in  the  field.  These  differences  were  shown  to 
be  the  necessary  result  of  various  inaccuracies  which 
other  men  had  fallen  into, — inaccuracies,  in  many  cases, 
due  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  certain  very  necessary 
physico-chemical  principles.  As  showing  the  uniform 
excellency  of  Richards'  work  it  may  be  pointed  out  that 
in  every  instance  the  consensus  of  scientific  opinion  has 

68 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

been  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  his  results.  "  One's 
confidence  in  the  work,"  writes  Richards,  "  cannot  but 
be  increased  by  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  the  many  years 
which  have  passed  since  some  of  the  work  was  done 
[this  was  written  in  1910],  not  one  of  these  values  has 
been  shown  to  be  seriously  in  error,  and  in  every  case 
the  Harvard  value  has  been  accepted  by  the  International 
Committee  on  Atomic  Weights  and  by  the  world  at  large 
as  more  accurate  than  previous  work  of  others." 

Much  of  his  earlier  work  appeared  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  but 
with  the  growth  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  and 
the  consequent  growth  of  its  Journal,  many  of  the  more 
recent  papers  have  found  their  way  into  this  Journal. 
Some  have  been  reprinted  by  the  Carnegie  Institution 
of  Washington,  an  organisation  which,  by  its  financial 
assistance,  has  made  much  of  the  work  possible.  A 
volume  embracing  all  of  Richards'  papers  up  to  1909  was 
published  in  German  under  the  title,  Untersuchungen 
iiber  Atomgewichte. 

The  extent  of  these  researches  has  necessitated  the 
assistance  of  many  students.  These  flocked  to  Harvard 
in  large  numbers.  As  early  as  1895,  when  Richards  was 
but  27,  students  began  to  work  under  his  direction,  and 
their  number  has  steadily  grown  until  to-day  there  is  quite 
a  little  army  of  them.  Some  of  them,  such  as  G.  N.  Lewis, 
L.  J.  Henderson,  Grinnel  Jones,  Baxter  and  Cushman, 
are  already  among  the  very  best  chemists  of  America. 

In  1901  Richards  was  appointed  to  a  full  professorship 
at  Harvard.  This  came  after  his  declination  of  an  offer 
from  the  authorities  at  the  University  of  Gb'ttingen, 
Germany,  which  showed  how  far  his  fame  even  then  had 
travelled.  Two  years  later  he  was  made  chairman  of  the 
department,  and  in  1907,  in  fulfilment  of  arrangements 
which  had  been  entered  into  between  Harvard  and  the 

69 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

German  Government,  Richard  was  selected  as  Exchange 
Professor  at  Berlin  University  for  that  current  year,  and 
during  his  brief  stay  there  he  introduced  some  of  his 
classical  experimental  methods  into  German  laboritories. 

Before  his  departure  from  Berlin,  Richards  delivered 
an  address  to  the  members  of  the  German  Chemical 
Society.  From  a  description  in  the  Chemiker-Zeitung 
we  gather  that  the  big  amphitheatre  in  the  Hofmannhaus 
(the  headquarters  of  the  Society)  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing, "  scholars  from  every  part  of  the  country  being 
attracted."  Among  the  audience  were  such  well- 
known  chemists  and  physicists  as  Graebe  (the  president), 
Emil  Fischer,  Landolt,  Nernst,  Lampe,  Brauner,  Lieber- 
mann,  Buchner,  Planck,  Pinner,  Ladenburg,  Gabriel, 
Witt,  Bernthsen,  Warburg  and  Biltz.  Richards'  address, 
dealing  with  his  later  researches  on  atomic  weights,  was 
received  with  much  enthusiasm  ("  Der  Vortrag  wurde 
mit  ausserordentlichem  Beifall  aufgennomen "),  and 
the  president  in  his  comments,  declared  that  the  two 
foremost  authorities  on  atomic  weights  in  the  last 
hundred  years,  Berzelius  and  Stas,  now  gave  way  to 
Richards.  "  The  light,  which  before  radiated  from 
Europe  to  America,  is  now  brilliantly  reflected  back 
again." 

It  has  been  emphasised  that  Richards'  atomic  weight 
determinations  were  merely  a  means,  and  that  the  end 
in  view  was  a  deeper  knowledge  of  fundamentals.  This 
led  him  to  investigate  other  properties  of  the  elements 
besides  weight,  such  as  compressibility,  melting  point, 
etc.  The  development  of  a  theory  which  assumed  that 
atoms,  and  not  merely  the  spaces  between  them,  are 
compressible  has  borne  wonderful  fruit,  and  has  splen- 
didly correlated  many  properties  of  matter.  "  In 
developing  this  theory,  I  endeavoured  always  to  avoid 
confounding  hypothetical  inferences  with  reality,  trying 

70 


5" 

"V 

<^ 

-.  « 

5 

« 

b^  l^ 

^3 

s 

^^ 

r 

^Ci 

s 

9i 

p 

^*s 

s 

^ 

fc 

\ 

. 

, 

\ 

i 

\ 

^C 

S 

^ 

ij 

4: 

S 

-\ 

£ 

3s 

v. 

1 

M 

•v 

J- 

j* 

£ 

7 

f" 

K 

/ 

Sj 

^j- 

/ 

/ 

J 

/ 

r 

j 

0 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/2 

/ 

/ 

/ 

r<5 

/ 

/ 

^ 

0, 

N 

'  r 

3 

JS 

.—  —  • 

_J— 

-== 

c: 

^—  • 

^ 

/ 

e= 

F 

^ 

•^TH 

-•^ 

^  '• 

!*—  I 

r  

—  — 

.Mu. 
—  - 

—  •- 
r=w* 

^C 

—  • 

»   ••    II 

—  — 

•  !-• 
=^ 

~4r 

•••• 

~ 

S 

ft 

^. 

•*? 

k~ 
* 

'-« 

•^ 

^ 

N 

\0 

V 

^    0 

a. 

* 

\ 

P 

'o 

c^ 

•^; 

IP 

V 

s 

5 

X, 

§ 

.§C 

s( 

"i 

V 

^- 

-Jjlo 

1?*" 

L, 

to 

0 

<3 

^x 

1 

^ 

§ 

X; 

^ 

I 

3 

fg 

™ 

1 

1 

§• 

x: 

\ 

i 

<5  J 

S 

Is 

s 

* 

! 

} 

-K4 

v 

j 

§2 

N 

d- 

^ 

^ 

/ 

> 

S 

v> 

i 

' 

k 

^*+ 

,3- 

^ 

S 

aa 

—  - 

,•-*• 

—  — 

•i 

i- 

—  —  •" 

r   — 

^,  i  • 

•5T 

—  — 

__. 



|w> 

x 

N 

•^. 

\ 

^ 

—  -». 

^, 

—  — 

=^i 

—  *^ 

^: 
^ 

^ 

^ 

;- 

"' 

/ 

<0 

/ 

;-^ 

\ 

^ 

1    2 

,c: 

/, 

5;- 

7 

\ 

JviJ 

a 

< 

N 

^i 

Ki 

-\ 

* 

\ 

c 

:7 

T 

ty 

_ 

U. 

S 

9o 

/ 

. 

X 

0 

/r 

"k- 

r= 

= 

«*—  • 

- 

L 

w 

^=» 
\ 

^«  •• 

*=-r 

i? 

^ 

= 
1  —  , 

c! 

^_ 

~ssr* 

mmm* 

jS. 

T 

^-\ 

CL 

••  •K, 

^ 

-    ty 

r~ 

-—  . 

-^9^ 

.  ' 

•*-— 

~^i 

^ 

- 

trJO 

^1 

-s>i 

^ 

•q 

^  ^* 

*>' 

3 

•^3 

^ 

•«: 

. 

...         • 

•  .  -4 

; 

,-^- 

-  —  ' 

"^ 

^ 

•^ 

^ 

S 

^ 

c^ 

^> 

x 

^x 

.9* 

•a*"" 

^- 

^^^ 
**~ 

^ 

~ 

^ 

-*** 

^> 

0 

•^ 

i 

1 

^ 

^ 

^ 

5 

1 

l-  II 

•si 


' 


£  a 


i 


I 


2| 

5  S 
is    31 


Ci' 
S 


8      8 


^ 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Michael  Faraday,  who  always 
distinguished  between  the  dreams  and  the  facts."  How 
well  various  properties  of  elements  are  correlated  is 
graphically  represented  on  the  opposite  page,  the  curves 
being  a  reproduction  from  one  of  Richards'  most  recent 
papers. 

Even  a  casual  glance  at  these  curves  will  answer  the 
few  critics,  quite  ill-informed  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
work,  who,  though  readily  admitting  Richards'  extra- 
ordinary skill  in  technique,  claim  that  it  shows  no  striking 
originality.  We  have  heard  similar  remarks  made  of 
Richards'  illustrious  co-worker  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School,  Otto  Folin.  Folin  has  devoted  much  of  his  time 
to  the  improvement  of  the  quantitative  methods  em- 
ployed in  urine,  and  later,  in  blood  analysis.  Aside  from 
having  shown  how  unsatisfactory  many  of  the  quanti- 
tative methods  previously  used  are,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, how  worthless  are  all  the  conclusions  of  a  chemi- 
cal nature  drawn  from  them,  Folin  has  been  led,  among 
other  things,  to  his  beautiful  theory  of  protein  meta- 
bolism, which  is  the  very  cornerstone  of  clinical  teaching 
to-day.  Folin's  improvement  of  quantitative  methods 
had  all  these  possibilities  in  mind. 

Precisely  the  same  is  true  of  Richards'  improvements 
of  atomic  weight  determinations.  Quantity,  through 
Lavoisier,  laid  the  basis  of  our  modern  science  of  chem- 
istry, and  the  greater  the  refinements  in  quantitative 
methods  the  greater  the  progress.  In  Richards  we 
have  not  only  a  master  of  quantitative  manipulation,  but  a 
master  interpreter  of  these  procedures,  and  it  is  the  com- 
bination which  makes  him  a  great  master  in  our  field.2 

2  As  showing  how  quite  unexpected  practical  applications  may 
result  from  work  of  scientific  interest  only,  the  following  may  be 
cited:  copper  ore  is  purchased  upon  a  metal  value,  established  by 
chemical  analysis,  a  value  based  upon  the  weight  of  copper  atoms 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

In  191 1  Richards  was  presented  with  the  Faraday 
Medal  of  the  English  Chemical  Society,  and  on  this 
occasion  delivered  an  address  The  Fundamental 
Properties  of  the  Elements,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
stimulating  the  present  writer  has  ever  read.  Of  the 
impression  it  made  on  its  hearers,  Prof.  Dixon's  opinion 
may  be  quoted  :3  "  We  have  listened  to-night  to  a 
story  that  is  more  entrancing  than  any  fairy  tale,  because 
as  we  followed  the  flight  of  the  lecturer's  imagination, 
we  knew  that  that  flight  was  surely  guided  and  controlled 
by  a  man  who  has  measured  and  weighed  the  elements 
with  an  accuracy  hitherto  unknown.  Concerning  the 
weights  of  the  element,  our  old  European  ideas  of 
finality  have  been  overthrown  by  Professor  Richards 
and  his  school,  and  we  are  at  this  moment  seeing  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Canning  when  he  said, 
*  I  look  to  the  new  world  to  redress  the  balance  of  the 
old."* 

The  following  year  Richards  was  appointed  to  the 
Erving  Professorship  of  Chemistry  and  made  Director 
of  the  Wolcott  Gibbs  Memorial  Laboratory,  a  post  which 
he  still  holds. 

This  Wolcott  Gibbs  Laboratory,  which  was  completed 
in  1913,  and  which  is  devoted  exclusively  to  research  hi 
physical  and  inorganic  chemistry,  was  named  after  one 
of  Harvard's  professors  of  chemistry.  Its  erection  was 
made  possible  through  the  generosity  of  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Morris  Loeb,  himself  a  pupil  of  Wolcott  Gibbs. 

in  the  ore.  Until  the  Harvard  experimental  results  were  announced 
this  atomic  weight  was  represented  as  63.2;  whereas  the  experi- 
ments showed  the  figure  to  be  63.6.  Evidently  this  difference  of 
two-fifths  of  one  percent  means  an  increase  in  value  to  the  seller 
of  about  $4,000  on  one  million  dollars'  worth  of  ore. 

8  Dixon  is  professor  of  chemistry  at  the  University  of  Manchester, 
and  one  of  the  past  presidents  of  the  English  Chemical  Society. 

72 


! 

is 


o 

^2     C 

31 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

For  the  type  of  work  in  which  Richards  is  engaged  the 
Gibbs  Laboratory  is  probably  the  best  equipped  in  the 
world. 

The  building  has  six  floors  available  for  work:  three 
regular  stories,  a  very  light  and  convenient  basement, 
a  sub-basement  for  especially  constant  temperature  work 
entirely  underground,  and  a  practicable  roof.  It  con- 
tains no  lecture  rooms  but  is  divided  into  many  rooms 
of  small  sizes,  the  majority  of  them  intended  for  one  or 
two  investigators.  Balance  rooms,4  dark  rooms,  rooms 
designed  for  chemical  and  physical  laboratories  (because 
much  of  the  work  lies  on  the  border-line  of  physics  and 
chemistry),  and  other  prerequisites  for  accurate  ex- 
perimentation, abound.  Pipes  are  laid  for  hot  and  cold 
water,  distilled  water,  steam,  compressed  air,  oxygen, 
and  vacuum,  as  well  as  for  gas ;  and  electricity  of  many 
voltages  is  available  at  suitable  plugs  throughout.  An 
automatic  electric  lift  is  used  for  transferring  the  appa- 
ratus, and  telephones  connect  all  the  important  rooms. 

Hollow  bricks  and  doubly  glazed  windows  with  tight 
weather-strips  protect  the  building  from  heat  and  cold, 
and  the  temperature  of  almost  every  room  is  auto- 
matically regulated.  The  ventillating  plant  provides 
filtered  air,  hence  the  building  is  extraordinarily  free 
from  dust  throughout. 

But  we  have  yet  to  tell  of  Richards*  greatest  triumph, 
a  direct  result  of  his  atomic  weight  determinations. 
In  the  spring  of  1914  Richards  startled  the  scientific  world 

4  The  balances  weigh  accurately  one  forty-millionth  part  of  an 
ounce.  With  their  aid  it  is  possible  to  weigh  a  short  light  mark 
made  by  a  lead  pencil.  The  material  is  weighed  in  a  platinum 
receptacle  which  is  carefully  regulated  to  the  temperature  of  the 
rest  of  the  balance,  otherwise  an  ascending  current  of  air  would  be 
generated  if  the  crucible  were  even  slightly  wanner,  making  it 
lighter  on  the  balance.  The  balance  is  confined  in  a  glass  case 
containing  dried  air. 

73 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

by  his  announcement  that  lead  obtained  from  radio- 
active minerals  has  a  lower  atomic  weight  than  the  lead 
obtained  from  any  other  source. 

A  little  reflection  is  needed  to  appreciate  the  full  sig- 
nificance of  this  statement.  Until  then  no  case  of  vari- 
ation hi  the  atomic  weight  of  an  element  had  ever  been 
shown.  Copper,  silver,  iron,  etc.,  had  been  obtained 
from  various  ores  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and 
many  thousands  of  analyses  had  been  run  by  many 
hundreds  of  investigators  everywhere,  yet  the  atomic 
weight  of  each  element  remained  a  fixed  number. 
Wherever  variations  arose,  these  were  invariably  traced 
to  inaccuracies  in  experimentation;  and  indeed  a  fixed 
tenet  hi  the  faith  of  every  chemist  became  that  the  atomic 
weights  of  the  elements  are  unalterable. 

But  radioactivity  came  to  shake  this  faith,  as  it  has 
shaken  the  faith  of  so  many  other  scientific  beliefs. 
Who  was  to  settle  such  a  question  if  not  the  master  of 
atomic  weight  determinations?  Ramsay  and  Soddy  in 
England,  and  Fajans  and  Bredig  in  Germany,  urged 
Richards  to  undertake  this  work.  Fajans  sent  his 
assistant,  Max  Lembert,  with  several  valuable  samples 
of  radio-active  ores  containing  lead,  to  assist  in  the 
research. 

Radioactive  ores  from  Ceylon,  from  Colorado,  from 
England,  from  Bohemia,  from  Norway,  were  carefully 
purified,  and  the  atomic  weight  of  the  lead  present  deter- 
mined with  all  the  extraordinary  refinements  that  his 
brother  workers  expected  of  Richards.  The  mean  of 
many  results  gave  the  value  of  206.6  for  the  atomic  weight 
of  radioactive  lead,  as  compared  to  207.2  for  common 
lead — a  difference  small  enough,  but  altogether  beyond 
any  experimental  error.  The  most  amazing  feature  of 
the  whole  situation  was  that,  outside  of  this  difference  in 
atomic  weight,  and,  therefore,  density,  the  two  varieties 

74 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 

of  lead  were  exactly  the  same  in  all  respects,  physically 
and  chemically. 

"Now  Rutherford  and  Soddy  had  worked  out  a  theory 
of  radioactive  disintegration  by  which,  starting  with 
uranium,  that  element  broke  down  in  stages  into  a 
number  of  other  elements,  the  last  of  which  was  lead. 
From  this  hypothesis  the  theoretical  atomic  weight  for 
lead  could  be  deduced.  This  was  found  to  be  206.07. 
Richards'  experimental  figure  was  206.08, — a  difference 
then  of  one  one-hundredth,  and  a  percentage  difference 
of  about  one  two-thousandth.  Never  in  the  history  of 
science  was  there  a  more  complete  agreement  between 
theory  and  fact. 

This  had  its  award  in  the  Nobel  Prize  which  came  to 
him  in  that  year  (1914).  In  1916  Richards  was  awarded 
the  Franklin  Medal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  Phila- 
delphia, founded  for  the  recognition  of  those  workers  in 
physical  science  or  technology,  without  regard  to  country, 
whose  efforts,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Institute,  have  done 
most  to  advance  a  knowledge  of  physical  science  or  its 
applications. 

In  addition  to  these  awards,  Richards  has  been  the 
recipient  of  many  other  honors.  At  various  tunes  differ- 
ent universities — Yale,  Harvard,  Cambridge,  Oxford, 
Manchester,  Prag,  Christiania,  Haverford,  Pittsburgh, 
Clark  and  Berlin — have  granted  him  honorary  degrees. 
In  1910,  the  London  Royal  Society  bestowed  its  Davy 
Medal  upon  him,  and  in  1912  he  received  the  Willard 
Gibbs  Medal  of  the  American  Chemical  Society.  He 
has  been  twice  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  Ameri- 
can Chemical  Society.  In  1917  he  was  elected  President 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science  for  that  year.  Recently  (May,  1919)  he  was 
nominated  for  the  presidency  of  the  American  Academy 

75 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

of  Arts  and  Sciences.  He  is  a  member  of  most  of  the 
scientific  organisations  of  Europe  and  America. 

Here  is  a  reporter's  description  of  the  man  and  his 
surroundings:  "  You  find  the  offices  of  the  director  on 
the  second  floor.  Presently  the  door  of  the  inner  room 
opens  and  you  hear  the  conclusion  of  a  little  conference. 
.  .  .  There  are  some  remarks  about  *  the  determination 
of  Q  and  the  elimination  of  that  error,1  and  then  you 
are  invited  into  the  private  apartment  of  Professor 
Theodore  William  Richards.  .  .  ." 

"The  room  is  large  and  cheerful  and  the  visitor  is 
slightly  surprised  to  note  that  it  contains  few  tokens  of 
the  laboratory  work  to  which  the  building  is  dedicated. 
.  .  .  The  eye  catches  at  once  an  artistic  portrait  upon 
the  wall  of  a  chemist  at  work  with  his  retorts  and  tubes, 
and  inquiry  secures  the  information  that  this  is  a  photo- 
graph of  a  Burne-Jones  painting  of  [the  late]  Lord 
Raleigh,  the  Chancellor  of  Cambridge  University  [and 
the  renowned  physicist].  Above  the  mantle  stands  a 
portrait  of  Michael  Faraday. 

"The  visitor  expresses  some  surprise  as  he  notes 
also  that  several  water-color  drawings  adorn  the  room. 
'  Is  there  any  reason  why  such  a  room  should  be  devoid 
of  beauty? '  asks  the  Director,  and  later  you  learn  that 
Prof.  Richards  himself  likes  to  sketch.  .  .  .  Two  of  the 
water  colors  are  the  work  of  his  father,  one  a  scene  at 
Monhegan,  the  other  a  view  of  rocks,  shale  and  waves  at 
Newport. 

"  Meantime  you  have  been  studying  the  man  himself. 
He  is  of  medium  height,  sturdily  made,  with  grey  hair, 
eyes  that  look  keenly  through  his  glasses,  and  a  genial 
manner.  His  face  is  oval,  the  smile  comes  readily — 
he  confesses  to  a  feeling  of  humor,  as  might  be  surmised 
from  the  twinkle  that  frequently  is  caught  lurking  in  his 
eyes — and  the  movements  are  quick  and  definite.  The 

76 


THEODORE  WILLIAM  RICHARDS 


general  impression  is  that  of  a  business  man  with  many 
affairs  pressing  upon  his  attention  rather  than  that 
fancy  which  most  persons  have  of  a  chemist  working 
with  minute  and  patient  care  upon  some  scientific 
problem." 

And  now  let  Prof.  Richards  act  as  autobiographer: 
"  Although  I  have  been  able  to  accomplish  only  a  very 
small  part  of  that  which  has  been  planned,  the  work  has 
interested  the  chemical  world  beyond  all  expectation; 
indeed  the  possibility  of  much  outside  interest  had  not 
been  anticipated.  .  .  .  The  splendid  Nobel  Prize  (which 
has  grown  to  be  world-renowned  above  all  other  forms 
of  recognition,  not  only  because  of  its  magnificence 
[some  $40,000  go  with  it]  but  also  because  of  the  list 
of  great  men  whose  names  grace  its  earlier  records), 
gave  pleasure  which  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate. 

"  The  award  will  be  a  lively  inspiration  to  try  to  do 
better  work  in  the  future,  and,  moreover,  its  provisions 
will  help  to  smooth  the  way  toward  more  accomplish- 
ment, both  by  providing  help  for  the  present,  and  by 
relieving  worry  for  the  years  to  come. 

"  All  those  marks  of  kindness  and  generosity  on  the 
part  of  one's  friends  and  colleagues  bring  great  satis- 
faction and  happiness;  but  they  cause  also  a  sense  of 
humility  and  responsibility.  One  cannot  help  wishing 
that  one's  incomplete  attainments,  so  richly  rewarded, 
came  nearer  to  the  ideal;  and  one  cannot  help  feeling 
that  he  must  strive  doubly  hard  in  the  future  to  be  worthy 
of  having  received  such  great  tokens  of  confidence  and 
honor." 

Richards,  together  with  his  students,  has  thus  far 
published  some  200  papers — the  results  of  research. 
Many  of  them  have  become  classics  in  our  science.  Yet 
Richards  is  very  little  over  fifty  to-day.  What  may  we 
not  expect  in  the  years  to  come ! 
7  77 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

References 

Part  of  the  information  comes  from  private  sources. 
Morris's  life  of  Richards'  father  (i)  gives  us  a  picture  of 
the  family.  Richards  himself  is  responsible  for  a  delight- 
ful autobiographical  sketch  of  his  early  days,  prepared 
at  the  request  of  the  editor  of  the  Swedish  Vecko- 
Journalen  (2).  An  unusually  well-informed  newspaper 
account  of  Prof.  Richards  and  his  work  appeared  in  the 
Boston  Sunday  Herald  in  1915  (3).  A  description  of  the 
Wolcott  Gibbs  Memorial  Laboratory  appeared  in  the 
Harvard  Alumni  Bulletin  for  1913  (4).  Excellent  sum- 
maries of  Prof.  Richards'  work  may  be  found  in  Science 
for  1915  (5),  1916  (6)  and  1919  (7),  and  in  the  English 
Chemical  Journal  (8), 

1.  H.  S.  Morris:    William  T.  Richards.    A  Brief  Outline  of  his 

Life  and  Art  (J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1912). 

2.  T.  W.  Richards:    Retrospect.     Vecko  Journalen  (Stockholm), 

Feb.  20,  1916. 

3.  Aonn.:    Professor  Richards  Wins  Nobel  Prize.     The  Sunday 

Herald  (Boston),  Nov.  21,  1915. 

4.  T.  W.  Richards:    The  Wolcott  Gibbs  Memorial  Laboratory. 

Harvard  Alumni  Bulletin,  March  26,  1913. 

5.  T.  W.  Richards:    Recent  Researches  in  the  Wolcott  Gibbs 

Memorial  Laboratory  of  Harvard  University.    Science  ,  Dec. 


6.  T.  W.  Richards:    Ideals  of  Chemical  Investigation.    Science, 

July  14,  1916. 

7.  T.  W.  Richards:   The  Problem  of  Radioactive  Lead.    Science, 

Jan.  3,  1919. 

8.  T.  W.  Richards:   The  Fundamental  Properties  of  the  Elements 

(Faraday  Lecture).    Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society  (Lon- 
don), 97,  1201  (1911). 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

[OU  have  two  substances:  they  both  have  the 
same  atoms,  the  same  number  of  atoms,  in 
the  same  proportion  by  weight.  So  far  as 
you  can  make  out,  they  both  have  the  same 
structural  formula.  Yet  they  show  decided  differences 
in  properties.  They  have  different  crystalline  struc- 
tures and  different  optical  properties,  for  example. 
What  are  we  to  make  of  this? 

Such  was  Pasteur's  problem  with  his  famous  tartaric 
acids.  Such  was  Wislicenus's  difficulty  with  his  lactic 
acids.  Structural  formulas,  as  written  on  paper — hi 
two  dimensions  therefore — failed  utterly  to  show  any 
differences  in  these  compounds. 

Now,  of  course,  it  did  not  require  any  very  keen 
insight  on  the  part  of  Pasteur,  Wislicenus,  and  others, 
to  realise  that  real  molecules  occupy  not  two  but  three 
dimensions,  and  that  at  best,  paper  formulas  were  a  use- 
ful, but  not  a  real  mode  of  representation.  Were  the 
differences  in  these  compounds  to  be  ascribed  to  differ- 
ences in  the  internal  structure  of  the  molecule,  and  if 
so,  was  there  any  possible  method  of  showing  this? 

The  twenty-two-year-old  van't  Hoff,  already  dissatis- 
fied with  these  paper  pictures,  and  pondering  over  the 
more  profound  question  as  to  the  possible  way  in  which 
the  atoms  themselves  are  held  together  in  the  molecule, 
introduced  the  conception  of  molecular  structure  based 
on  the  tetrahedron,  and  with  it  gave  an  impetus  to  the 
development  of  organic  chemistry  which  is  felt  with 
added  force  from  day  to  day.  One  need  but  mention 
the  carbohydrates  and  proteins  to  realise  how  much  we 

79 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

owe  the  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of  these  substances 
to  van't  Hoff's  new  branch  of  the  science — stereo- 
chemistry.1 

But  stereochemistry  was  simply  a  branch  development, 
as  it  were,  of  the  main  inquiry  which  van't  Hoff  set  about 
to  solve:  the  kinetics  of  chemical  action.  In  any 
chemical  reaction  we  see  the  beginning,  and  we  see  the 
end  of  the  reaction — we  seem  to  know  little  or  nothing  of 
the  steps  in  between.  What  may  they  be,  and  if  so, 
what  laws  govern  them?  What  of  the  velocity  of  chemi- 
cal reactions  and  of  the  various  phases  of  chemical 
equilibrium? 

These  reflections  gave  rise  to  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able books  in  the  whole  realm  of  chemistry — van't  Hoff's 
Chemical  Dynamics,  in  which  the  application  of  pure 
mathematics  to  chemistry  finds  one  of  its  first  and  clear- 
est expressions. 

And  this  study  culminated  in  one  of  the  great  general- 
isations in  the  science — the  analogy  between  substances 
in  solution  and  those  in  a  gaseous  form. 

Van't  Hof,  Vant  hof,  Vant  hoff,  vant  hof,  van't  Hof, 
van't  Hoff — so  run  the  pleasant  little  variations  in  name 
from  1600  on.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  a 
worthy  scion  of  this  well-known  Dutch  family,  accom- 
panied by  his  young  wife,  transferred  his  medical  prac- 
tise from  the  little  town  of  Sommelsdijk  to  the  flourishing 
city  of  Rotterdam,  and  in  August,  1852,  Alida  Jacoba 
van't  Hoff  gave  birth  to  Jacobus  Henricus,  Jr.,  destined 
to  become  the  master  chemical  thinker  of  our  generation. 

Henry's  early  days  alternated  between  attendance  at 
Kindergarden  and  pleasant  vacations  spent  with  his 
grandparents  at  Middleharnis,  made  famous  by  Hob- 

1  The  Frenchman  Le  Bel,  quite  independently,  and  only  a  month 
or  two  after  van't  Hoff's  article  appeared  in  print,  advanced  prac- 
tically the  same  stereometric  conception. 

80 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

beam's  picture  of  the  place.  The  kindergarten  was 
followed  by  the  elementary  school,  and  this  in  turn  by 
the  "  Hoogere  Burgerschool,"  where  Henry  achieved  a 
reputation  for  scholarship,  for  speculation  and  for  day- 
dreaming. 

At  the  secondary  school  van't  Hoff  first  received  in- 
struction in  chemistry,  and  as  with  many  another  be- 
ginner, the  excitement  of  cutting  and  bending  glass, 
preparing,  collecting  and  examining  gases,  and  possible 
explosions  of  all  kinds,  led  the  youngster  to  repeat  and 
extend  many  of  the  "  stunts  "  at  home.  The  parents 
and  friends  were  not  exactly  invited  to  these  exhibitions, 
for  the  practical  young  Dutchman  declared  that  rich 
feasts  should  be  paid  for!  And  paid  for  they  were. 
With  the  money  collected,  more  apparatus  was  bought, 
and  more  bombing  expeditions  were  undertaken. 

In  1869,  at  the  age  of  17,  he  matriculated  at  Leyden 
University,  with  the  following  result:  mathematics  and 
mechanics,  excellent;  physical  sciences,  very  good; 
history,  civics  and  economics,  good;  languages  and 
literature,  fan*;  drawing,  fair — altogether  not  a  bad 
comparative  estimate  of  his  knowledge  in  later 
years. 

But  what  was  he  to  do  now?  His  own  tastes  led  him 
to  entomology  and  to  literature,  neither  of  which  seemed 
practical  enough,  however,  to  the  young  Dutchman. 
;  After  much  family  discussion  it  was  decided  that  Henry 
proceed  immediately  to  the  Delft  Polytechnic  school, 
there  to  equip  himself  as  an  engineer.  Once  a  success- 
ful engineer  and  a  local  celebrity  it  would  be  easy  to  re- 
turn to  his  first  loves. 

To  Delft  went  young  Henry,  then,  and  with  a  deter- 
mination  to  do  or  die,  he  at  once  plunged  into  the  work 
before  him.  For  the  next  two  years  he  knew  little  of 
companionship  and  outside  pleasures.  The  work  for 

81 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

the  greater  part  was  distinctly  a  "  grind."  He  gradu- 
ated in  1871. 

In  the  meantime  two  things  had  happened  which  made 
him  question  the  desirability  of  pursuing  a  technical 
career.  He  had  spent  one  of  his  vacations  working  in  a 
sugar  factory,  and  found  much  of  this  work  distinctly 
monotonous.  Was  this  to  be  his  life  work?  The 
thought  made  him  shudder  a  little. 

And  there  was  still  another  factor.  Oudeman's  chem- 
istry lectures  had  made  a  very  deep  impression  on  him. 
Oudeman  was  an  excellent  speculator  in  his  subject,  and 
as  we  can  now  readily  understand,  such  a  man  was 
precisely  the  kind  of  inspiration  van't  Hoff  needed. 

After  finishing  his  course  at  Delft,  Henry  pursuaded 
his  parents  to  allow  him  to  continue  his  studies  at 
Leyden,  with  the  particular  object  of  rounding  out  his 
mathematical  knowledge.  He  had  now  quite  decided 
to  become  a  chemist.  What,  then,  had  mathematics 
to  do  with  it — mathematics,  to  prepare  for  a  chemical 
career  in  the  seventies?  At  this  point  one  does  not 
know  whom  to  credit  more  with  the  instinct  of  prophecy: 
his  teacher  Oudeman,  or  Henry  himself.  Of  this  we 
are  certain:  that  even  at  this  early  age  van't  Hoff  was 
quite  dissatisfied  with  the  purely  descriptive  state  of 
chemical  knowledge.  To  be  encyclopedic  only  might  be 
bookwormish,  but  surely  not  scientific. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  Leyden  grew  monotonous.  He 
had  gained  some  mathematics,  but  little  chemistry.  To 
Bonn,  then,  where  reigned  the  illustrious  Kekule,  the 
founder  of  the  theory  of  the  benzene  ring,  and  the 
speculator  of  his  day. 

"  In  Leyden  everything  was  prose — the  surroundings, 
the  city,  the  people.  In  Bonn  all  was  poetry."  So 
wrote  van't  Hoff  many  years  later.  Was  this  due  to 
Kekule's  influence?  To  some  extent,  no  doubt.  But 

82 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

there  were  other  factors.  Perhaps  a  closer  examination 
of  the  man  will  enlighten  us. 

Van't  Hoff,  to  be  sure,  had  always  been  extremely 
industrious,  and  had  had  little  leisure — or  inclination, 
for  that  matter — to  romp  with  acquaintances;  but 
the  time  that  he  did  have  was  largely  passed  in  a  world 
within.  He  speculated,  he  dreamt,  he  romaniticised. 
Comptes  and  Whewall  and  Taine  gave  him  basis  for 
speculation,  and  Burns,  Heine  and,  above  all,  Byron, 
for  his  romanticism.  To  the  end  of  his  day  Byron  re- 
mained his  god,  and  much  of  van't  Hoff' s  early  life  and 
thought  were  modelled  after  that  of  the  poet.  Had  not 
Byron  declared  that  Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy 
was  one  of  the  most  instructive  books  that  had  ever  been 
written?  Forthwith  does  van't  Hoff  plunge  into  Burton, 
with  results  that  are  obvious  during  his  student  days  at 
least.  Does  not  Byron  tell  us  that  Napoleon  is  the  first 
man  in  Europe?  So  says  van't  Hoff. 

" This  much  is  certain,"  writes  he ;  "if  Byron  had 
not  had  a  dog,  I  would  not  have  had  one,  and  if  Alcibiades 
had  not  had  one,  neither  of  us  would  have  been  posses- 
sors of  one.  But  what  if  Byron  had  possessed  a  don- 
key? ...» 

Such  was  Byron's  influence  that  at  moments  when  the 
differential  and  integral  calculus  were  not  absorbing  him 
and  the  inner  self  became  dominant,  the  scientist  often 
aspired  to  become  a  poet.  But  if  a  poet,  it  must  be, 
in  spirit  and  expression,  as  a  humble  follower  of  the 
great  master.  So  we  find  that  at  Bonn,  when  one  day, 
coming  into  the  laboratory,  he  heard  the  awful  news  of 
the  suicide  of  a  fair  fellow-worker,  he  rushed  to  his 
study  and  penned  the  following: 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Elegy  on  the  Death  of  a  Lady  Student  at  Bonn 

Thy  day  is  done,  young  champion  of  the  free ! 

Thy  glory  and  thy  suffering  are  past, 

As  a  weak  beauteous  flower's,  where  no  tree 

Can  shelter  it  from  cruel  Autumn's  blast; 

Which  dies  in  silence  lovely  to  the  last; 

Gone  as  a  day  in  spring,  gone  as  the  dream 

Of  one  that  wakes  no  more ;  and  must  it  be 

That  thoughtful  loneliness  passes  unseen, 

Oh!  shall  thy  hapless  lot  be  lost  in  Lethe's  stream! 

This  is  not  Byron,  and  yet  not  so  bad  for  a  young 
chemist,  writing  in  a  language  not  his  own. 

Fortunately  for  our  science,  van't  Hoff  did  not  receive 
much  encouragement  from  a  fellow  poet,  and  once  again 
he  turned  his  eyes  to  chemistry  and  Bonn  and  Kekule. 

Here  for  the  first  time  van't  Hoff  came  into  a  new 
world.  A  celebrated  university,  situated  where  there 
were 

A  blending  of  all  beauties;  streams  and  dells, 
Fruit,  foliage,  crag,  wood,  cornfield,  mountain,  vine, 
And  chiefless  castles  breathing  stern  farewells 
From  gay  but  leafy  walls,  where  Ruin  greenly  dwells, 

with  students  from  every  corner  of  the  globe,  and  with 
a  life  so  utterly  at  variance  with  his  experiences  hitherto, 
what  wonder  that  his  sensitive  nature  was  filled  with 
love  and  poetry  for  the  place?  "  The  laboratory  is  a 
temple!"  writes  he  to  his  father;  "...  and  in  the 
lecture  room  there  are  to  be  seen  daily  about  a  hundred 
of  our  most  promising  young  men,  gathered  from  ten 
different  states,  to  hear  and  to  see  Kekule,  whose  fame 
has  spread  itself  over  half  the  world." 

In  the  laboratory  van't  Hoff  worked  with  twelve  others 
at  research  in  organic  chemistry,  and  came  into  immedi- 
ate contact  with  the  assistant,  Wallach,  whose  work  on 
the  terpenes  and  camphor  was  to  become  epoch-making. 

84 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

Having  finished  a  rather  routine  piece  of  work  on  the 
synthesis  of  propionic  acid,  and  having,  by  the  end  of 
about  two  years,  largely  outlived  his  enthusiasm  for 
Bonn,  van't  Hoff  turned  his  wandering  gaze  toward  Paris. 

Outside  of  his  wanderlust,  just  what  his  object  was  in 
going  to  Paris  to  study  under  Wurtz,  is  not  clear.  He 
seems  to  have  done  little  laboratory  work  there,  but  his 
mind  was  full  of  speculations  of  all  sorts,  particularly 
of  one  which  was  to  find  expression  shortly.  "  D 
etait  si  tranquille  qu'on  ne  faisait  pas  grande  attention  a 
lui."  Such  was  the  opinion  of  his  fellow-students, 
including  Le  Bel,  through  whose  head  were  running 
ideas  very  similar  to  those  of  van't  Hoff's;  yet  not  a 
word  was  interchanged  between  the  two  regarding  their 
speculations! 

In  the  summer  of  1874,  after  a  six  months'  stay  in 
Paris,  he  returned  to  Utrecht  to  complete  his  doctor's 
requirements.  This  degree  he  attained  in  December  of 
the  same  year  for  another  routine  research  on  cyanacetic 
and  malonic  acids,  and  yet  four  months  before  he  had 
published  an  eleven-page  pamphlet  on  The  Structure 
of  the  Atoms  in  Space,  which  was  to  give  him  an  inter- 
national reputation! 

Van't  Hoff's  practical  common  sense — a  nationalistic 
trait,  one  might  add — is  nowhere  seen  to  better  advan- 
tage. He  might  have  offered  his  eleven-page  pamphlet 
for  a  dissertation,  but  the  probabilities  of  its  acceptance 
would  have  been  extremely  small.  Revolutionary  ideas 
are  not,  as  a  rule,  welcomed  in  dissertations,  and  if 
incorporated,  may  be  thrown  out,  with  such  comments 
as  "  vague,"  "  fanciful,"  "  unscientific." 

To  explain  cases  of  isomerism  which  structural  formu- 
las failed  to  solve,  van't  Hoff  introduced  the  idea  that 
in  such  molecules  the  carbon  atom  is  at  the  center  of  a 
tetrahedran,  with  its  four  lines,  representing  its  tetra- 

85 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

valency,  radiating  towards  the  four  points  of  the  tetra- 
hedran,  all  four  equidistinct  from  the  central  carbon 
point.  If  at  these  ends  we  have  four  different  atoms  or 
groups,  we  can  have  at  least  two  such  compounds,  one 
the  image  of  the  other,  and  not  superpo sable. 

At  first  this  pamphlet  made  no  impression.  It  was 
written  in  Dutch,  which  meant  at  best  but  a  local  audi- 
ence, and  it  dealt  with  such  novel  ideas  that  most  of  the 
scientists  of  his  own  land  would  have  dismissed  it  as  a 
piece  of  wild  imagination,  particularly  since  its  author 
was  entirely  unknown. 

To  give  it  a  wider  circulation  van't  Hoff  translated  his 
work  into  French  under  the  title  of  La  Chimie  dans 
Vespace.  This  was  all  the  more  necessary  since  Le  Bel, 
in  November,  1874 — that  *s>  some  two  months  after 
van't  Hoff's  publication — read  a  paper  before  the  French 
chemical  society,  containing  much  the  same  views.  It 
cannot  be  emphasised  too  strongly  at  this  point  that  the 
two  had  come  to  practically  the  same  conclusion  quite 
independently  of  one  another.  As  has  happened  before, 
and  since  that  period,  the  tune  was  ripe  for  some  such 
discovery. 

Over  a  year  passed  and  nothing  happened.  Then 
came  from  Johannes  Wislicenus,  already  a  mighty  force 
in  organic  chemistry,  a  letter  which  is  as  complimentary 
to  the  writer's  extraordinary  perpicacity  as  it  is  of  the 
talent  to  the  man  addressed.  "  Let  me  tell  you,"  he 
writes,  "  that  your  theoretical  development  [of  the 
subject]  has  given  me  much  satisfaction.  I  see  in  it 
not  only  an  exceptionally  talented  attempt  at  explaining 
hitherto  insoluble  problems,  but  something  which  will 
give  a  wholly  new  impetus  to  our  subject,  and  will  thereby 
become  epoch-making.  .  .  .  In  a  short  time  you  will  see, 
I  hope,  the  interest  I  take  in  your  work  by  my  own  re- 
searches in  the  field." 

86 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN»T  HOFF 

The  letter  concluded  with  a  request  to  allow  Dr. 
Herrmann,  one  of  Wislecenus's  assistants,  to  translate 
the  work  into  German,  which  would  then  be  introduced 
to  the  [German]  public  by  a  preface  from  the  pen  of 
Wislecenus  himself. 

The  translation  made  its  appearance  in  1876  under  the 
title  of  Die  Lagerung  der  Atome  in  Raume.  Like  Byron 
after  the  publication  of  Childe  Harrold,  van't  Hoff  awoke 
to  find  himself  famous. 

But  like  Byron,  again,  his  fame  brought  some  bitter 
attacks.  Of  extreme  virulence  was  one  from  Hermann 
Kolbe,  the  well-known  Leipsig  professor.  "  A  Dr.  van't 
Hoff"— so  runs  the  diatribe— "of  the  Veterinary 
College,  Utrecht  [he  had  in  the  meantime  been  appointed 
to  an  assist  ant  ship  at  this  place]  appears  to  have  no  taste 
for  exact  chemical  research.  He  finds  it  a  less  arduous 
task  to  amount  his  Pegasus  (evidently  borrowed  from 
the  veterinary  College)  and  to  soar  to  his  chemical 
Parnassus,  there  to  reveal  in  his  La  Chimie  dans 
Vespace  how  he  finds  the  atoms  situated  in  the  world's 
space. 

"  His  hallucinations  met  with  but  little  encourage- 
ment from  the  prosaic  chemical  public.  Dr.  F.  Hermann, 
assistant  at  the  Agricultural  Institute  of  Heidelberg, 
therefore  undertook  to  give  them  further  publicity  by 
means  of  a  German  edition.  ...  It  is  not  possible,  even 
cursorily,  to  criticise  this  paper,  since  its  fanciful  non- 
sense carefully  avoids  any  basis  of  fact,  and  is  quite 
unintelligible  to  the  calm  investigator.  ..." 

Kolbe  goes  on  to  deplore  the  times.  To  think  that 
an  unknown  chemist  should  be  given  a  ready  ear  when 
he  talks  of  the  most  difficult  of  problems,  and  particu- 
larly when  he  treats  them  with  such  perfect  assurance ! 

As  for  Wislicenus,  who  praised  it  in  an  introduction — 
"  Herewith  Wislicenus  makes  it  clear  that  he  has  gone 

87 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

over  from  the  camp  of  the  true  investigators  to  that  of  the 
speculative  philosophers  of  ominous  memory,  who  are 
separated  by  only  a  thin  medium  from  spiritualism  "[!] 

If  I  quote  Kolbe's  criticism  at  some  length  it  is  only 
to  show — for  the  nth  tune,  no  doubt — how  very  often 
some  of  the  most  powerful  intellects  of  the  day  com- 
pletely misunderstand  the  germ  of  a  new  idea.  And 
Kolbe  was  a  most  representative  scientist  of  his  tune. 
Yet  to-day  there  is  not  an  elementary  book  in  organic  or 
physical  chemistry  but  devotes  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  its  text  to  stereochemistry ! 

During  the  two  critical  years  of  1874  to  76,  that  is, 
from  the  tune  of  the  publication  of  his  pamphlet  to  the 
time  when  the  great  letter  came  from  the  great  Wis- 
lecenus,  van't  Hoff  spent  many  an  anxious  and  de- 
spondent hour.  As  with  Huxley  and  crowds  of  other 
despairing  young  climbers,  the  Dutchman  thought  much 
of  emigrating  to  a  distant  land — Australia,  perhaps. 
This  desire  was  much  strengthened  by  the  cold  reception 
he  received  from  know-it-all  school  directors  to  pompous 
college  professors,  whenever  he  applied  for  a  position. 
"  He  looks  rather  slovenly.  I'm  afraid  that  he'll  have 
lots  of  trouble  with  the  students."  So  runs  a  repre- 
sentative commentary  by  an  important  school  official. 

For  the  fact  that  migration  did  not  carry  off  van't 
Hoff  to  a  distant  land  and  to  an  unknown  end  we  have 
his  parents  to  thank.  They  constantly  counselled 
patience  and  persistence.  Fortunately,  also,  these 
parents  of  his  were  comfortably  off,  and  this  avoided 
distractions  from  his  goal,  which  might  otherwise  have 
easily  ruined  a  brilliant  career — as  it  has  done  in  in- 
numerable cases. 

Patience !  Its  first  illustration  was  seen  in  the  f ol- 
lowing  advertisement  which  appeared  in  a  Utrecht  daily 
newspaper: 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

"Dr.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff  (« Technology ')  will  give 
private  lessons  in  chemistry,  physics,  etc.  Address  Mrs. 
Kortebos,  Spoorstrat,  C." 

The  pupils  came  ever  so  slowly  and  time  hung  ever 
so  heavily.  This  was  not  an  unmixed  misfortune,  for 
during  his  leisure  hours  further  ideas  hi  organic  chem- 
istry began  to  crystallise  in  his  head,  with  results  which 
led  to  another  fruitful  volume  not  so  very  long  after- 
wards— Views  regarding  Organic  Chemistry. 

Things  changed  at  length — probably  as  a  direct  result 
of  Wislicenus's  letter.  In  1876  he  was  appointed 
assistant  at  the  Veterinary  School  hi  Utrecht,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  became  lecturer  at  the  University  of 
Amsterdam. 

In  the  meantime,  in  spite  of  Kolbe's  criticism,  van't 
HofPs  views  on  the  atoms  in  space  were  finding  welcome 
acceptance  throughout  Europe.  His  name  was  on  the 
lips  of  scientific  men  everywhere,  for  his  theories  had 
given  untold  possibilities  in  the  field  of  experimental 
chemistry. 

His  introductory  lecture,  Imagination  in  Science,  was 
a  masterly  vindication  of  his  own  attitude  towards  the 
subject,  and  incidentally  a  splendid  answer  to  Kolbe's 
criticism.  The  gist  of  it  is  contained  in  the  conclusion, 
quoted  from  one  of  his  favorite  historians,  Buckle: 
"  There  is  a  spiritual,  a  poetic,  and  for  aught  we  know  a 
spontaneous  and  uncaused  element  in  the  human  mind, 
which  ever  and  anon,  suddenly  and  without  warning, 
gives  us  a  glimpse  and  a  forecast  of  the  future,  and 
urges  us  to  seize  truth  as  it  were  by  anticipation." 

No  wonder,  then,  that  hi  1878,  when  but  26  years  old, 
he  became  the  faculty's  unanimous  choice  for  the  chair 
of  chemistry  (to  which,  sad  to  relate,  mineralogy  and 
geology  were  at  first  added). 

89 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

This  was  very  quickly  and  very  appropriately  followed 
by  van't  Hoff's  marriage  to  Johanna  Francina  Mees, 
the  daughter  of  a  Rotterdam  merchant.  Jenny  had 
been  courted  from  the  "  Burgerschool "  days  up. 

For  the  next  eighteen  years  van't  Hoff  remained  at 
Amsterdam.  They  were  his  most  fruitful  years.  When 
in  1896  he  was  called  to  Berlin,  van't  Hoff  had  become 
the  most  renowned  physical  chemist  of  his  day. 

The  early  days  of  his  professorship  gave  him  little 
leisure.  Five  lectures  per  week  in  organic  chemistry, 
and  one  each  in  mineralogy,  crystallography,  geology  and 
palaentology,  together  with  supervision  of  the  laboratory, 
which  provided  for  the  instruction  of  graduate  students, 
beginners  in  chemistry,  and  medical  students — all  this 
with  but  two  assistants.  Little  wonder,  indeed,  that 
during  these  years  of  exacting  teaching  and  executive 
duties  the  name  of  van't  Hoff  was  quite  absent  from 
the  pages  of  the  chemical  journals.  But  that,  of  course, 
does  not  mean  that  his  imagination  was  not  as  active  as 
ever.  It  was  during  these  years  of  much  routine,  chiefly 
in  the  spare  moments  between  supper  and  bedtime,  that 
the  ideas  which  found  their  expression  in  the  Etude  de 
Dynamique  Chimique — the  Revolution  Chimique^  as  it 
has  been  called — were  evolved. 

This  great  work  appeared  in  1884.  Speaking  to  the 
German  chemical  society  ten  years  later,  van't  Hoff 
told  that  audience  that  the  origin  of  these  studies  was  to 
be  traced  to  his  difficulty  in  explaining  certain  oxidation 
processes.  For  example,  oxidation  takes  place  much 
more  slowly  with  methane  than  with  methyl  alcohol. 
To  explain  this  and  other  such  changes  a  study  of  the 
velocity  of  reactions  became  imperative.  But  the  work 
had  an  even  grander  aim,  as  the  preface  outlines: 
"  Progress  in  general  in  any  science  passes  through 
two  distinct  phases.  At  the  beginning  all  scientific 

90 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

research  is  of  a  descriptive  or  systematic  kind.  Later  it 
becomes  rational  or  philosophical.  It  has  not  been  other- 
wise with  chemistry.  ...  In  the  second  phase  of  the 
development,  the  researches  are  not  limited  to  collecting 
and  co-ordinating  the  materials,  but  these  pass  to  the 
study  of  causal  relations.  The  initial  interest  which 
they  had  in  a  new  substance  has  now  disappeared; 
while  the  knowledge  of  its  chemical  composition  and  of 
its  properties  have  a  much  greater  value,  becoming  the 
starting-point  in  the  discovery  of  causal  relations.  The 
history  of  every  science  consists  in  the  evolution  of  the 
descriptive  period  into  the  rational  period." 

At  first  the  reception  accorded  this  work  suggested 
that  given  to  his  Atoms  in  Space,  that  is,  it  was 
very  quietly  ignored.  In  this  case,  however,  the 
question  of  language,  or  the  standing  of  the  author, 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  In  1884  van't  Hoff  was 
already  a  mighty  figure,  and  the  French  language 
circulated  throughout  Europe.  The  truth  was  that  the 
I  chemists  were  ill-prepared  for  any  mathematical  appli- 
cations to  their  subject.  This  time  criticism  gave  place 
to  silence. 

However,  from  far-off  Sweden  came  a  reverberating 
echo.  In  one  of  the  current  journals,  the  Nordisk 
Revy,  for  March  1885,  appeared  an  exhaustive  review 
of  van't  Hoff's  book,  in  which,  among  other  things,  the 
reviewer  had  this  to  say:  "Though  the  author  has 
already  achieved  prominence  by  his  success  in  unlocking 
the  secrets  of  nature,  his  former  accomplishments  are 
put  into  the  shade  with  the  appearance  of  this  work." 

The  reviewer  was  none  other  than  Svante  Arrhenius, 
then  quite  unknown,  but  later  a  figure  to  compare  with 
van't  Hoff  himself— and  no  higher  compliment  can  be  paid. 

As  with  his  earlier  work,  the  Etude  is  to-day  regarded 
as  one  of  our  classics. 

91 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Towards  the  end  of  the  Etude  we  already  find  a  clear 
expression  of  the  relation  of  osmotic  pressure  in  liquids  to 
the  pressure  exerted  by  gases — an  analogy  which  soon  led 
to  a  remarkable  elucidation  of  our  knowledge  of  solution. 

Sugar  and  salt  are  dissolved  in  water;  what  happens 
to  the  sugar  and  the  salt?  In  what  state  are  they  while 
in  solution? 

Connecting  the  preliminary  and  apparently  discon- 
nected results  of  Raoult  on  freezing  point  depression, 
and  Traube  and  Pfeffer  on  osmotic  pressure  and  its 
measurement,  van't  Hoff  enunciated  his  most  celebrated 
law :  A  substance  in  solution  behaves  as  if  it  were  a  gas, 
occupying  a  volume  equal  to  the  solvent. 

The  year  1887  may  be  regarded  as  the  most  important 
in  the  history  of  physical  chemistry.  To  begin  with,  the 
second  volume  of  Ostwald's  Lehrbuch  der  allgemeinen 
Chemiey — the  basis  for  all  modern  text-books  on  the 
subject, — made  its  appearance.  Further,  the  first  num- 
ber of  the  Zeitschrift  filr  physikalische  Chemie>  edited 
under  the  joint  auspices  of  Ostwald  and  van't  Hoff,  was 
issued.  And  last,  but  not  least,  van't  Hoff's  article 
(revised)  on  the  role  of  osmotic  pressure  in  the  analogy 
between  solutions  and  gases,  and  Arrhenius's  essay  on 
the  dissociation  of  substances  dissolved  in  water,  was 
published  in  volume  I  of  the  Zeitschrift. 

As  the  era  of  modern  chemistry  starts  with  Lavoisier, 
so  the  science  of  physical  chemistry  starts  with  the  three 
musketeers,  van't  Hoff,  Arrhenius  and  Ostwald. 

In  this  same  year  the  chair  of  physical  chemistry  at 
Leipzig  was  offered  van't  Hoff.  Upon  this  offer  coming 
to  the  ears  of  the  Amsterdam  authorities,  attractive 
counter  proposals  were  immediately  advanced.  The 
most  alluring  of  these  was  that  a  physics-chemical  in- 
stitute was  to  be  built  expressly  for  him.  This  was  put 
into  effect  immediately. 

92 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

During  his  remaining  years  in  Amsterdam  the  experi- 
mental possibilities  to  which  the  Etude  pointed  were 
rigorously  examined  by  van't  Hoff  and  many  students 
drawn  by  his  fame  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  Among 
the  latter  may  be  mentioned  van  Deventer,  Spring, 
Reicher,  Arrhenius,  Cohen,  Bredig,  Goldschmidt,  Eyk- 
man,  Meyerhoffer,  Ewan,  and  Bancroft  (of  Cornell) — 
names  known  wherever  physical  chemistry  flourishes. 

In  1893  van't  Hoff,  together  with  Le  Bel,  were  pre- 
sented with  the  Davy  Medal  of  the  Royal  Society  (of 
London),  "in  recognition  of  the  introduction  of  the 
theory  of  asymmetric  carbon  and  its  use  in  explaining 
the  constitution  of  optically  active  carbon  compounds."1 
Such  was  the  progress  which  the  theory  had  made  in 
the  meantime,  despite  Kolbe. 

The  Germans  had  made  one  attempt  to  capture  the 
great  Dutchman,  and  they  were  not  yet  ready  to  admit 
defeat.  Upon  the  death  of  August  Kundt,  in  1894,  the 

1The  history  of  this  Davy  Medal  is  of  uncommon  interest. 
As  a  result  of  innumerable  explosions  in  the  English  coal  mines, 
with  consequent  loss  of  life,  a  society  for  preventing  such  accidents 
was  founded  in  1813.  One  of  its  first  measures  was  to  engage  the 
services  of  Humphrey  Davy,  the  celebrated  chemist.  Within  a  few 
weeks  after  his  appointment  Davy  announced  the  discovery  of  his 
wonderful  little  safety  lamp  in  the  following  words:  "  My  results 
have  been  successful  far  beyond  my  expectations.  I  trust  the  safe 
lamp  will  answer  all  the  objects  of  the  collier.  ...  I  have  never 
received  so  much  pleasure  from  the  result  of  any  of  my  chemical 
labors,  for  I  trust  the  cause  of  humanity  will  gain  something  by  it." 
The  colliers  were  not  ungrateful.  They  presented  Davy  with  a 
silver  plate  valued  at  1,500  pounds.  This  plate  Davy  disposed  of 
in  his  will  as  follows:  "...  I  wish  her  [his  wife]  to  enjoy  the  use 
of  my  plate  during  her  life,  and  she  will  leave  it  to  my  brother  in 
case  he  survives  her,  and  if  to  any  child  of  his  who  may  be  capable 
of  using  it;  but  if  he  is  not  in  a  situation  to  use  or  to  enjoy  it  then 
I  wish  it  to  be  melted  and  given  to  the  Royal  Society  to  provide  a 
medal  to  be  given  annually  for  the  most  important  discovery  in 
Chemistry  made  in  Europe  or  Anglo-America.  ..." 

8  93 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Berlin  faculty  unanimously  suggested  van't  Hoff's 
name  for  the  chair  of  experimental  physics.  Max 
Planck,  the  faculty's  representative,  was  sent  on  a 
special  mission  to  Amsterdam.  Althoff,  the  representa- 
tive in  the  Prussian  Ministry  of  Education,  sent  van't 
Hoff  an  additional  message  urging  him  to  come  to 
Berlin  and  talk  matters  over.  Finally,  when  some 
hesitation  still  prevailed,  Emil  Fischer  was  commissioned 
to  use  his  good  offices. 

Van't  Hoff,  Jr.,  and  van't  Hoff,  Sr.,  weighed  the  pros 
and  cons  carefully.  The  offer  was  an  unusual  one,  and 
the  honor  extraordinary,  but  the  duties  of  an  active  pro- 
fessor at  Berlin  were  not  light,  and  here  in  Amsterdam 
the  authorities,  ever  afraid  to  lose  their  gifted  country- 
man, were  ready  at  the  first  sign  to  lighten  his  burdens, 
or  increase  his  equipment.  So  van't  Hoff,  with  papa's 
advice,  once  again  said  nay. 

But  Berlin  wanted  van't  Hoff.  Was  it  a  question  of 
too  many  hours  of  university  teaching?  Very  well, 
then;  this  will  be  cut  down  to  an  absurd  minimum. 
Since  he  is  to  hold  a  professorship,  some  lectures  at  the 
University  must  be  delivered,  but  unless  otherwise 
desired,  these  lectures  need  not  exceed  one  per  week. 
The  rest  of  the  tune  shall  be  van't  Hoff's  absolutely. 
Further,  a  private  laboratory,  equipped  for  any  type  of 
research  van't  Hoff  shall  elect,  will  be  provided. 

Need  we  wonder  that  he  fell  victim?  "  When  for 
the  past  twenty-years,  year  in  and  year  out,  one  teaches 
that  potassium  permanganate  is  an  oxidising  agent,  one 
gets  a  little  tired,"  was  van't  Hoff's  comment.  "... 
Of  course,  I  have  a  very  good  position  here  in  Amster- 
dam— that  cannot  be  denied.  But  there  is  a  difference 
between  good  and  good.  And  when  invitations  are 
always  rejected,  there  comes  a  tune  when  no  more 
invitations  are  received." 

94 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

The  German  universities  get  the  best  brains  their  land 
can  offer,  and  when  better  brains  still  are  found  beyond 
their  border,  the  most  alluring  offers  are  sent  forth. 
Thus  it  happened  that  at  a  later  date  attractions  were 
held  out  to  Arrhenius,  and  even  our  own  Richards  had 
difficulty  in  freeing  himself  from  the  Gottingen  clutches. 
If  only  the  Anglo-Saxons  would  follow  suit  here!  If 
only  in  leaving  the  whey  of  German  university  training 
they  would  be  careful  to  retain  any  cream!  What  a  joy 
it  would  be  to  see  Manchester  scrambling  for  a  Noyes, 
or  California  for  a  Soddy! 

It  goes  without  saying  that  van't  Hoff's  migration  met 
with  criticism  in  Holland.  He  was  pictured  as  un- 
patriotic, and  as  being  ready  to  grab  all  he  could  get, 
never  being  satisfied  with  what  he  had.  Even  the 
Dutch  Punch  did  not  spare  him.  Picturing  van't  Hoff 
in  conversation  with  a  fish,  the  following  caricatures  were 
presented : 

(1)  Dr.  v't  H:  Fish — fish  in  the  sea,  bring  me  a  cap 

and  gown. 
Fish:  Here  it  is. 

(2)  Dr.  v't  H :  Fish — fish  hi  the  sea,  bring  me  a  labor- 

atory. 
Fish:  Here  it  is. 

(3)  Dr.  v't  H:  Fish— fish  in  the  sea,  bring  me  an  Order 

of  the  Crown. 
Fish :  Here  it  is. 

(4)  Dr.  v't  H:  Fish— fish  in  the  sea- 
Fish:  Still  not  enough?    Adieu! 

Writing  to  his  friend  Cohen  from  Charlottenburg  (on 
the  outskirts  of  Berlin)  on  April  23,  1896,  van't  Hoff 
,says:  "  This  is  quite  a  new  life,  and  I  look  forward  with 
hope  to  the  future.  .  .  .  Our  apartment  here  [Uhland- 
strasse  39]  is  excellent,  and  the  situation  all  that  can  be 
desired — half  within,  and  half  without  the  town.  A 

95 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

pleasant  walk  takes  us  to  Grunenwald  [a  forest  nearby], 
from  where  we  can  return  by  train  if  desired,  and  the 
station  is  quite  near  the  house. 

"  I  now  find  much  more  time  to  be  with  my  family, 
and  this  has  particular  attractions  amidst  strange  sur- 
roundings. The  children  all  go  to  school.  Everyone 
of  them,  with  the  exception  of  Goof  [the  youngest] 
has  cried  at  one  time  or  another  because  things  were 
not  quite  what  they  were  before.  But  children  accli- 
matize themselves  quickly  enough  provided  they  are 
healthy,  and  the  air  here  seems  excellent. 

"I  have  attended  two  meetings  of  the  Academy, 
which  seem  quite  attractive  under  the  stimulus  of  a 
respectable  cup  of  coffee.  On  Wednesday  I  shall  give 
my  first  lecture  (one  per  week)  as  part  of  my  duties  as 
ordentlicher  honor ar professor. 

"For  the  time  being  my  laboratory  consists  of  an 
apartment,  which  I  have  rented  near  our  home,  and  this 
I  shall  equip  with  Meyerhoffer's  help  [Meyerhoffer  was 
van't  Hoff's  favorite  assistant  in  Amsterdam  whom  he 
had  induced  to  come  to  Berlin], 

"  We  intend  to  begin  research  work  on  the  Stassfu 
salt  deposits.  .  .  .  The  foundation  for  everything  has 
been  laid,  and  so  far  as  I  can  see  everything  looks  bright 
and  cheerful.  .  .  . 

"  My  ever  well-disposed  wife  and  I  pay  quite  a  num- 
ber of  visits  to  the  celebrities,  whom  I  do  not  always 
know  how  to  entertain,  and  whom  I  am  forever  mis- 
taking for  other  folks.  Three  dinners  are  in  pros- 
pect. ...» 

The  task  which  van't  Hoff  now  set  himself  was  to 
make  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  potash  deposits 
in  Stassfurt,  Germany.  When  we  remember  that  until 
the  outbreak  of  the  world  war  the  entire  world  was 
practically  dependent  for  its  potash — to  be  used  as  a 

96 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

constituent  in  fertilisers— upon  these  Stassfurt  deposits, 
the  value  of  any  research  connected  with  them  can 
well  be  understood. 

Of  the  substances  present,  the  mineral,  carnallite,  is 
by  far  the  most  important.  The  question  which  van't 
Hoff  first  asked  himself,  and  one  which  became  the 
keynote  to  all  his  subsequent  work,  was:  "Carnallite 
being  a  compound  of  magnesium  and  potassium  chlor- 
ides and  water,  what  arises  when  these  three  sub- 
stances are  brought  together  in  different  proportions, 
at  different  temperatures,  and  the  escape  of  the  water  is 
prevented?" 

Between  1896  and  1906  more  than  fifty  papers  were 
published  on  this  and  related  subjects  by  van't  Hoff 
and  collaborators,  of  whom  Meyerhoffer  stands  out  pre- 
eminently. The  work  is  of  the  most  complicated  kind, 
and  no  one  has  yet  been  found  who  has  been  bold 
enough  to  attempt  a  critical  appraisal.  This  much  seems 
certain:  that  while  the  work  is  a  splendid  application 
to  industry  of  the  phase  rule  by  Willard  Gibbs,  the  Yale 
professor,  it  is  overshadowed  in  originality  by  van't 
Hofif's  earlier  contributions. 

In  1906  van't  Hoff  turned  his  attention  to  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  problems  in  biochemistry:  the  nature 
of  enzymes — those  substances,  present  in  all  cells, 
which  bring  about  the  chemical  changes  in  the  organism 
so  essential  to  life.  The  one  or  two  papers  on  this 
subject,  which  appeared  immediately  prior  to  his  last 
illness,  were  full  of  pregnant  possibilities,  and  showed 
the  master  at  his  best. 

In  1900  van't  Hoff  was  elected  president  of  the  German 
chemical  society;  and  in  the  following  year  he  became 
the  first  recipient  of  the  Nobel  Prize  in  chemistry, 
Rontgen  receiving  the  physics  prize,  and  Behring,  the 
one  hi  medicine.  In  1909  the  Prussian  Academy  of 

97 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Science  presented  him  with  the  Helmholtz  medal,  the 
highest  honor  which  they  could  bestow. 

Van't  Hoff,  never  robust,  had  been  a  sufferer  of 
tuberculosis  for  a  number  of  years.  The  dread  disease 
took  hold  of  him  with  particular  virulence  towards  the 
end  of  1910,  and  it  was  soon  apparent  that  he  could 
not  hope  to  hold  out  much  longer.  On  March  i,  1911, 
at  the  age  of  59,  the  greatest  Dutchman  of  our  tunes 
breathed  his  last.  With  his  beloved  Byron  can  we 
say  that  here  was  one  "  too  soon  returned  to  earth." 

When  fame  had  come  a-plenty,  van't  Hoff  was  much 
in  demand  at  scientific  gatherings.  Such  travelling  as 
attendance  at  these  meetings  made  necessary  was  under- 
taken with  little  hardship  after  his  singularly  fortunate 
Berlin  appointment,  and  he  loved  to  mingle  with  his 
scientific  confreres. 

In  1890  he  attended  the  British  Association  meeting 
at  Leeds,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  discussion  on 
solution  (see  the  article  on  Ramsay).  In  1893  he 
delivered  an  address  on  La  Force  osmotique  before  the 
Sociele  chimique  de  Paris,  which  probably  explains 
why  hi  the  following  year  he  was  nominated  for  the 
Legion  of  Honor  on  the  ground  of  his  "  remarquables 
travaux  sur  la  chimie  dans  1'espace"  !  In  1894  he 
addressed  the  Deutschen  chemischen  Gesellschaft  on 
"  Wie  die  Theorie  der  Losungen  entstand."  1 

1  The  late  Prof.  H.  C.  Jones,  who  was  pursuing  graduate  studies 
in  Germany  at  the  time,  and  who  was  present  at  this  lecture,  thus 
describes  the  event:  "  There  sat  in  the  front  row  Helmholtz,  Ost- 
wald,  Emil  Fischer,  and  a  number  of  other  men  of  science  were 
present,  whose  names  have  become  household  words.  These 
included  Landolt,  Kossel,  Jahn,  Tiemann,  Will,  Witt,  and  many 
others. 

"  The  entrance  of  Helmholtz  into  the  lecture  room  made  an  im- 
pression that  will  not  be  forgotten.  Helmholz  had  attended  the 

98 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

In  1898  van't  Hoff,  as  the  triple  delegate  of  the  Univ. 
of  Berlin,  of  the  Academy,  and  of  the  Chemical  Society, 
undertook  a  trip  to  Stockholm  to  attend  a  Berzelius 
celebration.  To  honor  the  memory  of  the  immortal 
Swedish  chemist  was  doubtless  his  desire,  but  a  still 
greater  incentive  for  this  journey  was  the  opportunity 
it  afforded  to  be  with  his  friend  Arrhenius. 

Three  years  later  we  find  him  on  his  way  to  the  United 
States  to  attend  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  the  University  of  Chicago  (see  addendum);  and 
before  the  year  is  out  he  is  to  be  found  hi  London,  in 
the  Royal  Institution,  holding  forth  "  in  perfect  English 
syntax,  with  here  and  there  a  modification  of  the  vowels 
which  indicated  that  the  language  was  not  his  native 

World's  Fair  in  Chicago,  and  on  his  return  home,  when  disem- 
barking at  Bremen,  had  slipped  and  fallen  down  the  stairway  of  the 
ship.  He,  as  is  well  known,  ruptured  a  blood  vessel  on  the  head, 
which  at  the  time  nearly  caused  his  death  from  loss  of  blood.  .  .  . 
When  Helmholtz  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  lecture  room,  Emil 
Fischer  ran  and  assisted  him  down  the  steps  to  a  seat  in  the  front 
row  of  the  hall;  the  greatest  physicist  of  the  day  aided  by  the  most 
active  organic  chemist  of  that  period. 

"  The  object  in  inviting  Van't  Hoff  to  lecture  in  Berlin  at  that 
time,  was  to  see  and  hear  him  with  the  possibility  of  calling  him  to 
that  great  university.  His  fame  had  already  spread,  and  the  real 
greatness  of  the  man  was  even  then  beginning  to  be  pretty  fully 
realized.  .  .  . 

"  This  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  Van't  Hoff.  There 
arose  to  speak  a  slight  figure  of  scarcely  average  height,  with  long, 
rather  coarse  hair,  and  with  an  extremely  modest  demeanor.  This, 
as  is  well  known  to  those  who  knew  Van't  Hoff  at  all  closely,  was 
one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics.  The  speaker  at  first  seemed 
a  little  nervous,  due  no  doubt  in  part  to  the  character  of  the  audience 
he  was  facing,  and  in  part  to  the  fact  that  he  probably  suspected  the 
motive  in  asking  him  to  lecture  in  Berlin  just  at  that  time.  .  .  . 
Van't  Hoff  had  not  proceeded  far  with  the  lecture,  when  any  initial 
nervousness  entirely  disappeared,  and  his  manner  of  presentation 
made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  his  audience." 

99 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

tongue."  The  theme  was  the  life  and  labors  of  Raoult, 
the  eminent  French  physicist,  who  had  but  recently 
died,  and  whose  work  was  so  indissolubly  bound  with 
that  of  van't  Hoff.  The  concluding  words  of  this  lecture 
apply  as  much  to  van't  Hoff  as  to  Raoult:  "Yet  his 
(Raoulfs)  character  may  be  read  hi  his  papers:  activity, 
patience,  tenacity  to  an  extreme  degree  hi  pursuing  an 
aim,  having  an  eye  as  much  for  detail  as  for  vaster  and 
vaster  horizens,  absolute  independence  of  mind,  power 
of  criticising  or  of  admitting  without  passion  the  views 
of  others  as  well  as  his  own,  and  of  testing  both  with  the 
same  calm  conviction  that  the  last  word  must  rest  with 
experiment;  this  is  what  we  read  hi  every  page  and  what 
the  whole  chemical  world  may  know." 

Two  years  later  (hi  1903)  he  is  hi  England  once  more — 
this  time  in  Manchester,  in  the  city  where  once  reigned 
a  John  Dalton  and  a  James  Prescott  Joule,  of  whom 
Manchester  ought  to  be  far  prouder  than  she  is  (which 
is  saying  no  more  of  Manchester  than  what  might  be 
said  of  many  another  English  or  American  city).  One 
hundred  years  had  passed  since  Dalton  had  brought 
forward  his  Atomic  Theory,  and  the  university  of  his 
native  city  now  celebrated  the  event  in  becoming  fashion. 
What  the  university  authorities  thought  of  van't  Hoff 
may  still  be  gauged  to-day  by  anyone  who  enters  the 
chemical  laboratory  of  the  university.  At  its  entrance 
is  a  tablet  with  this  enscription:  "This  stone  was 
laid  by  Professor  J.  H.  van't  Hoff,  2oth  May,  1903,  in 
commemoration  of  the  centenary  of  Dalton's  Atomic 
Theory." 

In  the  following  year  we  find  him  in  Munich,  sent 
[there  to  represent  the  chemical  society  at  the  celebration 
of  Baeyer's  seventieth  birthday.  Van't  Hoff  had  a  very 
soft  spot  for  the  great  Baeyer,  the  master  of  the  chemistry 
of  indigo  and  countless  other  organic  substances,  who, 

zoo 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

as  far  back  as  1875,  had  declared  of  the  Atoms  in  Space, 
"  Da  1st  wirklich  mal  wieder  ein  neuer  guter  Gedanke 
in  unsere  Wissenschaft  gekommen,  der  reiche  Fruchte 
tragen  wird." 

A  journey  to  Vienna  hi  1906,  to  attend  a  conference 
of  Austrian  engineers  and  architects,  who — strange  to 
relate ! — were  eager  to  hear  van't  Hoff  on  the  subject  of 
thermochemistry,  gave  him  unusual  pleasure.  "  Vi- 
enna— that  was  delightful,"  he  writes;  "I  shall  never 
forget  those  days.  Profs.  Klaudy  and  von  Juptner  had 
arranged  for  everything,  and  every  hour  was  accounted 
for.  It  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  could 
escape  sometimes.  I  was  really  amazed  at  the  things  I 
could  still  do  at  my  age.  Don't  ask  me  what  I  have  seen. 
I  have  seen  everyone  except  the  Kaiser,  and  have  done 
everything  except  rest.  But  it  was  all  so  lovely." 

That  same  year  he  and  his  wife  were  in  Italy  to  witness 
an  eruption  of  Vesuvius.  Whatever  enjoyment  the  two 
got  out  of  this  trip  was  more  than  offset  by  van't  Hoff's 
disease,  which  at  this  stage  gripped  him  with  added 
force. 

We  have  seen  how  in  early  life  van't  Hoff  was  the  poet 
and  romanticist.  In  later  years  poetry  was  all  but  for- 
gotten. His  thoughts  were  with  his  chemistry  every- 
where, and  at  all  times.  Even  music  served  but  to 
concentrate  his  mind  upon  a  problem,  for  he  has  told 
us  that  "  good  music  makes  it  very  pleasant  to  think  of 
other  things  "  —  "  other  things  "  being,  perhaps,  the 
velocity  of  some  reaction.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life, 
when  doctors'  orders  forbade  mental  effort,  he  branched 
out  into  novel  reading,  and  passed  time  with  Turgenieff 
and  Zola — the  latter,  in  particular,  a  strange  antithesis 
to  the  Byron  of  his  youth. 

Van't  Hoff  had  never  been  robust,  and  ceaseless 
mental  activity  added  to  the  uncertain  elements  in  his 

IOI 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

state  of  health.1  Hayfever  was  a  regular  yearly  visitor, 
and  in  later  years  tuberculosis  added  to  his  afflictions.2 
Van't  Hoff's  wife  and  four  children,  Johanna  Francina 
(b.  1880)  (who  married  privat-docent  Ulrich  Behn  in 
1905),  Aleida  Jacoba  (b.  1882)  (who  married  Dr.  Charles 
W.  Snyder,  of  Baltimore),  Jacobus  Hendricus  (b.  1883), 
and  Go  very  Jacob  (b.  1889)  survive  him. 

Addendum 
van't  Hoff  in  America 

On  the  occasion  of  its  tenth  anniversary,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  invited  some  distinguished  foreign 
scholars  to  attend  its  celebration.  Among  these  was 
van't  Hoff.  Whilst  on  his  journey  van't  Hoff  kept  a 
brief  diary  which  has  since  found  its  way  into  Ernest 
Cohen's  life  of  the  great  Dutch  chemist. 

No  sooner  were  the  necessary  arrangements  com- 
pleted with  Nef ,  representing  the  University  of  Chicago, 
than  further  invitations  began  to  pour  in  from  the 
American  Chemical  Society,  from  Yale,  from  Richards 
at  Harvard,  from  Bancroft  at  Cornell,  from  Loeb  at 
Wood's  Hole,  etc. 

With  his  wife  by  his  side,  and  with  a  dose  of  sodium 
cyanide  hi  his  pocket,  to  be  used  in  case  of  accident — a 
typical  European  custom — van't  Hoff  set  sail  from 
Rotterdam  on  May  21,  1901.  Being  a  Dutch  celebrity, 

i  "  Van't  Hoff  ...  not  only  worked  under  high  tension,  but  he 
seemed  to  live  under  high  tension.  When  one  saw  him  on  the 
street  he  moved  as  if  on  rubber,  and  this  kind  of  living  would,  in 
time,  of  necessity  react  upon  the  nervous  system." — Prof.  Harry  C. 
Jones. 

2 "  van't  Hoff,  as  is  well  known  [to  whom?]  contracted  tubercu- 
losis, probably  while  studying  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius.  He  thought 
that  the  dust  lacerated  his  throat  and  lungs,  and  that  the  tubercle 
bacillus  then  began  its  work." — Prof.  H.  C.  Jones. 

102 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

the  directors  of  the  Holland-American  Line  set  aside  a 
stateroom  for  his  use,  and  at  table  he  sat  with  the 
captain  on  one  side  of  him  and  the  Dutch  Consul  to 
St.  Paul  on  the  other. 

The  voyage,  aside  from  a  day  of  rough  weather,  was, 
on  the  whole,  a  pleasant  one.  Professor  Webster  Wells, 
of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Pettijohn,  of  Chicago,  whom  he  met 
on  board,  proved  agreeable  companions.  During  the 
spare  moments  when  talk  and  play  did  not  occupy  him, 
van't  Hoff  busied  himself  with  Loeb's  work. 

After  landing  in  New  York,  where  his  pockets  were 
searched  by  a  custom-house  official  as  though  he  were  a 
pickpocket  (!),  van't  Hoff  registered  at  the  Savoy  Hotel. 
Here  troubles  soon  began.  The  taxi-man  proved  ex- 
orbitant. The  wash  basin  hi  his  room  had  unexpected 
possibilities.  The  shades  simply  could  not  be  moved, 
as  though  defiant  of  European  authority.  And  the 
trunk,  without  which  outdoor  life  was  not  to  be  thought 
of,  simply  would  not  show  up. 

In  good  time  things  righteu  themselves  somewhat. 
With  the  arrival  of  the  trunk  a  brief  stroll  was  under- 
taken. Everything  was  greeted  with  open-mouthed 
astonishment.  Much  was  found  that  was  beautiful; 
much  that  was  ugly;  but  everywhere  something  very 
distinctively  American  was  encountered.  Upon  his 
return,  cards  from  Professor  Chandler,  from  his  son- 
in-law,  Pellew,  and  from  a  reporter  of  the  New  York 
Tribune^  together  with  an  invitation  to  the  Century  Club, 
awaited  him.  This  was  evidently  the  beginning  of 
American  hospitality. 

At  luncheon  there  was  a  welcome  introduction  to  ice- 
water — an  unknown  luxury  in  Europe.  After  the  mid- 
day meal,  Miss  Maltby,  of  Barnard,  whom  van't  Hoff 
had  met  in  Gottingen,  called  on  him  and  his  wife,  and 
the  trio  started  out  on  a  stroll  through  Central  Park  and 

103 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

the  Zoo,  thence  by  bus  to  the  "  glorious  "  Hudson  and 
Grant's  Tomb,  and  finally  to  Barnard  and  the  girls  for 
supper. 

The  following  day  visits  to  Hale,  to  Chandler  and  to 
Pellew  were  planned.  Brooklyn  proved  too  complicated 
a  center,  and  Hale  could  not  be  located.  However,  a 
sight  of  Brooklyn  Bridge  partially  repaid  his  disappoint- 
ment, for  this  structure  aroused  much  admiration  from 
the  artistic  scientist.  The  homes  of  Chandler  and 
Pellew,  "  with  their  well-dressed  ladies,"  were  easier 
to  find. 

Not  being  expected  in  Chicago  for  some  days,  van't 
Hoff  decided  to  visit  some  places  of  interest  in  this 
country.  The  first  to  be  selected  was  Baltimore,  with 
its  Ira  Remsen  and  Johns  Hopkins.  The  country,  as 
viewed  from  a  Pullman,  did  not  excite  him  much.  One 
feature  was  the  large  posters  along  the  road,  announcing 
such  items  as  "  Baker's  5c  Cigars,  Generously  Good," 
or  "  Omega  Oil  For  Sore  Feet,  Stops  Pain,  For  Head- 
aches, For  Everything."  That,  at  least,  was  America 
with  a  vengeance!  Passing  into  Philadelphia  over  the 
Delaware  recalled  the  story  of  the  famous  crossing  and 
the  chain  of  dramatic  events  that  followed  it. 

Baltimore  was  much  more  after  his  own  heart.  There 
was  none  of  that  breathless  living  so  characteristic  of  the 
Empire  City.  Here  people  lived  more  on  the  style  of 
the  Rotterdammers  and  Amsterdammers. 

At  the  University  he  met  his  old  pupil,  Harry  C. 
Jones,  whose  open-hearted  laughter,  with  his  "all 
right"  and  "first-rate"  and  "that's  it"  won  van't 
Hofif  completely.  Here  he  was  shown  the  first  of  the 
series  of  classical  researches  on  osmotic  pressure,  so 
intimately  associated  with  the  name  of  Morse. 

The  greeting  by  President  Remsen  and  the  Faculty 
in  the  Senate  House  was  most  cordial.  "Really 

104 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

great  "  was  a  phrase  used,  and  van't  Hoff  felt  satisfied. 
The  lunch  at  Remsen's  which  followed  it,  however,  was 
too  exclusively  American;  particularly  the  grape-fruit, 
which  van't  Hoff  had  not,  as  yet,  cultivated  a  taste  for. 

On  to  Washington!  More  south!  More  negroes!! 
Fans!!! 

Here  the  trusty  Baedeker  did  yeoman  service — 
whether  at  the  Capitol,  or  at  Howard  University  (a  uni- 
versity for  negroes  I),  or  at  the  Geological  Survey,  or  at 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  or  at  Mount  Vernon. 
There  was  much  to  admire.  And  Day  and  Clarke  and 
Hillebrandt,  of  all  of  whom  he  had  heard  much,  he  was 
glad  to  meet. 

Over  the  Lehigh  Valley  to  Mauch  Chunk,  the  "  Ameri- 
can Switzerland,1'  with  its  immense  coal-fields,  and 
thence  to  Ithaca.  Here  some  delightful  hours  were 
spent  with  Bancroft  and  his  wife.  An  introduction  to 
President  Schurman  gave  occasion  for  a  discussion  of 
the  influence  of  the  money-kings  on  the  development  of 
American  universities.  This  was  apropos  of  the  dis- 
missal of  a  professor  who  professed  leanings  towards 
socialism.  Their  next  stop  was  in  Buffalo,  where  the 
Pan-American  Exposition  and  the  grand  Niagara  Falls 
were  visited. 

From  Buffalo  van't  Hoff  proceeded  direct  to  Chicago. 
The  Pullman  arrangements  were  an  unpleasant  surprise 
to  him.  He  recalled  how  traveling  from  Paris  to  Strass- 
burg  each  passenger  had  his  own  little  room  with  his 
own  wash-stand.  But  these  common  sleeping  quarters, 
stiflingly  hot  and  uncomfortable,  with  one  wash-stand 
for  all! 

At  Chicago  Nef  had  undertaken  to  look  after  his  com- 
fort, and  the  result  was  everything  that  could  be  desired. 
His  suite  at  the  Hotel  Windemere  was  ducal  in  pre- 
tentiousness. 

105 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

The  first  part  of  the  celebration  consisted  of  a  reception 
tendered  by  Mr.  Rockefeller.  Here  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Stieglitz  and  Alexander  Smith.  In  the 
afternoon  van't  Hoff  delivered  the  first  of  his  promised 
addresses,  and  this  duly  made  its  appearance  in  Science. 
Later  on,  Nef  took  him  to  a  baseball  game  which  was  to 
be  played  between  Chicago  and  Michigan,  and  here,  for 
the  first  time,  van't  Hoff  really  understood  just  what 
baseball  is.  It  would  seem  that  while  in  Washington  he 
had  one  day  watched  a  steamer  crowded  with  lively 
young  girls  depart  for  a  baseball  game.  At  that  time  our 
learned  professor  was  of  the  opinion  that  baseball  was 
some  sort  of  a  dance ! 

In  the  evening  the  president  tendered  a  dinner  to  his 
guests.  Van't  Hoff  was  seated  between  M.  Cambon, 
the  French  Ambassador,  and  Professor  Goodwin,  of 
Harvard.  Goodwin  considered  van't  "Hoff's  speech  on 
the  occasion — "  American  Ideals  " — the  best,  because 
it  was  the  shortest!  Rockefeller's  presence  made  wine 
or  beer  out  of  the  question. 

Following  this  came  the  general  reception,  which 
was  most  noteworthy  for  the  immense  crowd  that  had 
gathered  there.  Van't  Hoff  retired  to  a  quiet  corner 
with  Alexander  Smith,  "  an  extraordinary  tall  col- 
league." 

The  following  day — June  18 — began  with  the  laying 
of  the  foundation  stone.  The  heat  was  terrific,  and  poor 
van't  Hoff  fell  quite  asleep  during  the  long-drawn-out 
speeches. 

Then  came  the  awarding  of  degrees.  All  the  honorary 
recipients  were  there,  with  the  exception  of  the  Russian, 
who  had  got  his  dates  confused  because  of  sticking  too 
close  to  his  Russian  Calendar ! 

Fully  one  half  of  the  students  who  received  degrees 
were  girls.  This  was  an  excellent  augury  for  the  future, 

106 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

thought  van't  Hoff,  and  the  thought  he  conveyed  to  an 
acquaintance  sitting  near-by.  This  man  explained  the 
University's  point  of  view  by  saying  that  the  authorities 
did  not  greatly  encourage  the  girl  graduates  to  seek 
positions,  but  did  like  to  see  these  same  girls  marry  rich 
men.  Why?  Because  it  would  then  be  the  duty  of 
these  girls  to  interest  their  rich  husbands  in  the  needs  of 
the  University.  Was  the  man  serious? 

van't  Hoff  was  among  a  few  to  receive  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

At  i  P.M.  came  the  alumni  dinner,  and  van't  Hoff  was 
honored  by  being  seated  next  to  Rockefeller.  Very 
little  conversation  was  carried  on  with  the  oil  magnate, 
because  this  gentleman  seemed  much  too  preoccupied 
with  his  coming  speech.  When  Rockefeller's  turn  did 
come,  he  commenced  with  a  story  about  a  negro  who  was 
asked  what  he  thought  of  Jesus,  to  which  the  negro 
replied,  "  I  have  nothing  against  Him."  With  this, 
Rockefeller  turned  to  the  public  and  said,  "I  have 
nothing  against  you."  Van't  Hoff  does  not  tell  us  how 
the  millionaire  further  developed  his  speech. 

Again  not  a  drop  of  alcohol  on  the  table!  Again 
Rockefeller's  influence  I 

The  next  four  or  five  days  were  mainly  occupied  with 
the  preparation  and  deliverance  of  the  lectures — since 
published  and  translated  into  English  by  Alexander 
Smith. 

On  the  24th  of  June  van't  Hoff  departed  for  Cam- 
bridge. At  Boston  he  was  met  by  Richards,  who  had 
provided  for  his  comfort  as  liberally  as  had  Nef  at 
Chicago. 

On  the  26th,  which  was  the  day  of  Harvard's  Com- 
mencement, van't  Hoff  was  presented  for  his  honorary 
degree  as  "  the  greatest  living  physical  chemist,"  a 
statement  which  was  received  with  much  applause.  The 

107 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

lunch  at  Memorial  Hall  which  followed  was  chiefly 
memorable  because  of  Roosevelt's  presence.  The  well- 
advertised  teeth  showed  prominently.  The  evening  was 
spent  at  the  homes  of  Richards  and  Miinsterberg.  The 
following  day,  with  Jackson  and  Richards  as  guides, 
Boston's  sights  were  carefully  inspected.  In  the  evening 
he  was  the  chief  guest  at  a  dinner  which  included  Presi- 
dent Eliot,  Richards,  Jackson,  Pickering,  Trowbridge, 
Hill,  Michael  and  Bancroft.  Gibbs  and  Crafts  sent 
regrets.  Van't  Hoff  was  seated  next  to  Eliot,  who  dis- 
cussed with  him  the  possibility  of  losing  Richards,  at 
that  tune  considered  as  a  probable  candidate  for  the 
chair  of  chemistry  at  Gb'ttingen — an  unusual  distinction 
for  an  American. 

Van't  Hoff  took  his  departure  from  this  country  highly 
impressed  with  all  that  he  had  seen.  He  prophesied 
that  within  fifty  years  American  universities  would 
seriously  rival  those  in  Europe.  It  is  but  nineteen 
years  since  he  has  been  here,  but  his  prophecy  has 
already  come  true. 

References 

Cohen's  life  of  his  great  master  (i)  contains  most  of 
the  available  biographical  material.  For  references  to 
atoms  hi  space,  see  2,  3  and  4;  for  organic  chemistry,  5; 
chemical  dynamics,  6  and  7;  theory  of  solution,  8; 
Stassfurt  deposits,  9. 

1.  Ernst  Cohen:    Jacobus  Henricus  Van't  Hoff:   Sein  Leben  und 

Wirken  (Akademische  Verlagsgessellschaft,  Leipzig.    1912). 

2.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:   The  Arrangement  of  Atoms  in  Space  (Long- 

mans, Green  and  Co.     1898). 

3.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:  Chemistry  in  Space  (Clarendon  Press,  Oxford. 

1891). 

4.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:    Stereochemistry.    Encycl.   Britannica,  25, 

890  (1911)- 

5.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:  Ansichten  u'ber  die  organische  Chemie  (Vieweg 

und  Sohn,  Braunschweig.    1881). 
108 


JACOBUS  HENRICUS  VAN'T  HOFF 

6.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:    Studies  in  Chemical  Dynamics  (Chemical 

Publishing  Co.,  Easton,  Pa.    1896). 

7.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff :  Lectures  on  Theoretical  and  Physical  Chemistry. 

Part  i.  Chemical  Dynamics.  Part  2.  Chemical  Statics. 
Part  3.  Relation  Between  Properties  and  Composition 
(Edwin  Arnold,  London.  1899). 

8.  H.  C.  Jones:    The  Modern  Theory  of  Solution  (Memoirs  by 

Pfeffer,  van't  Hoff,  Arrhenius  and  Raoult)  (Harper  Brothers. 

1899). 

9.  J.  H.  van't  Hoff:    Physical  Chemistry  in  the  Service  of  the 

Sciences  (English  version  by  Alexander  Smith)  (University 
of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago.  1903). 


109 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

JNIUS'S  fame  rests  secure  on  his  The- 
ory of  Electrolytic  Dissociation,  which  postu- 
lates that  those  substances  which,  when 
dissolved  in  water  or  any  other  solvent,  are 
good  conductors  of  electricity,  are  also  those  substances 
which,  in  solution,  largely  decompose,  or  dissociate,  into 
atoms,  or  groups  of  atoms,  carrying  powerful  electric 
charges  (the  so-called  "  ions  ").  The  theory  was  a  direct 
outcome  of  van't  Hoff's  osmotic  pressure  studies,  and 
its  effect  on  the  development  of  every  phase  of  chemistry 
has  been  incalculable.  That  it  is  as  sound  in  principle 
as  Dalton's  Atomic  Theory  or  Mendeleeff's  Periodic 
Law  can  hardly  be  doubted,  for  it,  like  the  others,  has 
helped  to  clear  up  many  mysteries  and  to  pave  the  way 
for  many  new  discoveries.  Its  services  have  extended 
beyond  chemistry  and  invaded  the  realms  of  the  physi- 
ologist, the  botanist,  the  zoologist  and  the  medical  man. 
One  may  mention  the  insight  it  gives  us  into  the  mechan- 
ism by  which  the  blood  maintains  its  remarkable 
neutrality,  and  the  light  it  has  shed  upon  various  phases 
of  cellular  activity. 

Arrhenius'  later  contributions  to  bacteriology  and 
astronomy  stamp  him  as  one  of  the  most  versatile,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  of  our  age. 

Svante  Arrhenius  was  born  in  Wyk,  near  Upsala, 
Sweden,  on  February  19,  1859.  His  father  and  mother 
(nee  Thumburg)  traced  their  descent  back  to  many  a 
generation. 

Soon  after  Arrhenius's  birth  his  parents  moved  to 
Upsala,  Sweden,  and  there  young  Svante  received  his 

in 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

public  and  high-school  education,  matriculating  at  17 
with  an  exceptionally  fine  record  in  mathematics, 
physics  and  biology — three  subjects,  in  which  his  genius 
was  to  find  splendid  scope. 

For  the  next  five  years  he  pursued  his  studies  at  the 
University  of  Upsala,  specializing  in  mathematics, 
physics,  and  to  some  extent  in  chemistry.  In  this  last 
subject  he  had  Cleve  for  professor,  and  Cleve's  lectures 
on  organic  chemistry  gave  Arrhenius  food  for  thought. 
The  simplest  formula  for  cane  sugar,  said  Cleve,  was 
Ci2H22On;  the  strong  probabilities  were  that  the  actual 
formula  was  a  multiple  of  this,  but  there  was  no  known 
way  of  finding  out.  Why  not?  thought  Arrhenius,  to 
whom  things  "  unknowable  "  presented  an  irresistible 
fascination.  And  he  forthwith  set  out  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  determining  the  molecular  weight  of  the  sugar 
by  some  electrical  means, — electricity  being  the  key  to 
all  difficulties. 

All  Arrhenius's  attempts  ended  in  failure.  In  the 
meantime,  Raoult,  the  professor  at  Grenoble,  France, 
had  solved  the  mystery  by  his  freezing-point  determina- 
tions, but  many  days  were  to  pass  before  the  voice  from 
Grenoble  would  reach  Upsala. 

Arrhenius's  attempts  led  him  to  investigate  the  con- 
ductivity of  solutions  (with  respect  to  the  electric  cur- 
rent), and  by  one  of  those  happy  strokes  which  of  ten 
decide  a  man's  fate  or  career,  he  chose  dilute  rather 
than  concentrated  solutions. 

These  experiments  were  carried  out  in  Stockholm 
during  1881-84,  for  Upsala  offered  few  favorable  facili- 
ties. Edlung,  the  professor  of  physics,  and  the  great 
authority  on  electricity,  dissuaded  Arrhenius  from  all 
chemical  pursuits,  possibly  because  he  himself  knew 
little  chemistry.  Arrhenius  thanked  him  for  his  advice 
and  went  his  own  way;  but  Edlung  undoubtedly  gave 

112 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

him  that  foundation  in  the  science  of  electricity  without 
which  his  great  discovery  would  have  been  impossible. 
Our  young  experimenter  had  not  groped  his  way 
many  miles  before  he  formed  the  opinion  that  in  dilute 
solutions  there  was  a  complete  dissociation,  or  cleavage 
of  the  molecules. 

These  were  startlingly  heterodox  views.  Did  this 
young  physicist  assert  that  when  common  salt  (the 
chemical  name  for  which  is  sodium  chloride)  is  dis- 
solved in  water,  the  salt  dissociates  into  its  components 
sodium  and  chlorine?  Absurd!  Sodium  is  a  poisonous 
white  metal,  which  violently  attacks  water  as  soon  as  it 
comes  in  contact  with  it;  chlorine  is  a  yellow-colored, 
suffocating  gas,  only  too  well  known  to  the  present 
generation.  But  neither  sodium,  nor  chlorine,  nor 
anything  like  these  two  elements  makes  its  appearance 
when  salt  is  dissolved  in  water. 

Answered  Arrhenius,  meekly,  but  nevertheless  with 
conviction,  the  chlorine  and  the  sodium  that  are  freed 
'  are  not  freed  as  chlorine  and  sodium  atoms,  but  as 
j  chlorine  and  sodium  "  ions  "  (borrowing  a  word  corned 
\  by  Faraday),  which  are  atoms  (and  sometimes  groups 
[  of  atoms)  carrying  powerful  electric  charges;  these 
I  electric  charges  powerfully  modify  the  properties  of  the 
;'  elements. 

What,  then,  does  an  electric  current  do  when  it  passes 
t  through  the  solution?  How,  under  these  circumstances, 
\  do  you  explain  the  formation  of  hydrogen  and  chlorine 
?  at  the  two  poles? 

That's  simple,  said  the  twenty-odd  year  old  Swede. 

The  current  does  not  dissociate  the  salt — the  water  does 

•  that;  the  electric  current  merely  directs  the  path  of  the 

'  ions,  sending  the  sodium  ions  to  the  cathode,  and  the 

chlorine  ions  to  the  anode.    There  the  opposite  electrical 

charges  neutralise  one  another  and  sodium  and  chlorine 

( 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

atoms  remain.  The  sodium  atom  is  no  sooner  liberated 
than  it  attacks  the  water,  decomposes  it,  forms  caustic 
soda,  and  liberates  hydrogen;  so  that  the  net  result  of 
the  operation  is  to  form  caustic  soda  and  to  liberate  the 
two  gases  hydrogen  and  chlorine. 

The  explanation  was  simple  enough  and  fitted  the 
facts  remarkably  well,  but  Arrhenius  had  disadvantages 
to  contend  against.  He  was  a  mere  boy  and  quite 
unknown,  and  his  professors  were  men  of  renown,  who, 
like  most  men  beyond  a  certain  age,  unlearn  with  diffi- 
culty, and  adopt  new  ideas  only  when  painful  necessity 
makes  any  other  course  impossible.  But  at  this  lime 
there  was  no  such  necessity.  Arrhenius  was  a  candi- 
date for  the  doctor's  degree,  and  without  counting  the 
consequences,  he  incorporated  many  of  these  heteredox 
views  in  his  thesis  with  the  elaborate  title :  Recherches 
sur  la  conductibilite  galvanique  des  electrolytes — 
(i)  conductibilite  galvanique  des  solutions  aqueous 
extremementdiluees;  (2)  theorie  chimique  des  electro- 
lytes. 

No  wonder  the  professors  were  up  in  arms.  What 
right  had  a  candidate  for  a  doctor's  degree  to  express 
views  so  diametrically  opposed  to  those  held  by  the 
authorities? 

At  this  time  Arrhenius  had  not  yet  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  van't  Hoff,  otherwise  that  immortal  Dutchman, 
no  less  immortal  because  of  his  good,  hard  common- 
sense,  might  have  advised  his  colleague  in  Sweden  to 
present  a  stereotyped  research  for  the  Ph.D.  and  reserve 
his  more  valuable  work  for  another  occasion — just  as 
van't  Hoff  himself  had  done  several  years  before  in 
Utrecht. 

Fortunately  for  Arrhenius  he  began  to  scent  difficul- 
ties just  in  the  nick  of  time.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
saying  that  in  a  dilute  solution  there  was  total  dissocia- 

114 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

tion,  he  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  view  that  in 
solution  salts  consist  of  two  different  kinds  of  molecules, 
the  inactive — "  this  expression  did  not  look  danger- 
ous " — and  the  active,  the  latter  only  conducting  elec- 
tricity. In  a  moment  of  happy  inspiration,  Arrhenius 
added  that  the  active  molecules  are  in  a  state  described 
by  Clausius. 

Now  Clausius  was  the  physicist  of  the  physicists  of 
his  time  whom  the  Stockholm  School  simply  venerated, 
and  truly  enough  Clausius  had  expressed  views  closely 
resembling  Arrhenius's,  though  not  carried  to  so  logical 
a  conclusion.  Said  Arrhenius  to  an  American  scientific 
gathering  not  many  years  ago :  "  He  [Clausius]  was  a 
great  authority,  therefore  it  could  not  be  regarded  as 
unwise  to  share  his  ideas." 

A  careful  review  of  Berthellot's  thermo-chemical 
studies  led  Arrhenius  to  the  view  that  the  strongest  acids 
were  also  the  best  conductors  of  electricity. 

"The  next  step  was  also  quite  clear:    the  active 

molecules,  which  are  active  in  regard  to  electricity,  are 

!  also  active  in  regard  to  chemical  properties,  and  that  was 

|  the  great  step.  ...  I  got  that  idea  on  the  night  of 

the   1 7th  of  May  in  the  year  1883,  and  I  could  not 

|  sleep  that  night  until  I  had  worked  through  the  whole 

problem." 

Everything  followed  from  this:  the  constant  amount 
|  of  heat  formed  when  strong  acids  and  strong  bases  react 
(due  to  the  formation  of  undissociated  water  in  every 
'reaction  of  this  kind);  the  reaction  of  electrolytes  (sub- 
:  stances  which  conduct  electricity)  as  being  due  to  the 
reaction  of  the  ions  first  formed ;  etc. 

"  I  had  deduced  a  rather  great  number  of  different 
properties  which  had  not  been  explained  before;  but 
I  must  say  that  this  circumstance  made  no  very  great 
impression  upon  my  professor  at  Upsala." 

"5 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS   OF  OUR  TIME 

"I  came  to  my  professor,  Cleve,  whom  I  admire 
very  much,  and  I  said,  '  I  have  a  new  theory  of  elec- 
trical conductivity  as  a  cause  of  chemical  reactions.' 
He  said,  '  This  is  very  interesting,'  and  then  said, 
*  Goodbye ! '  He  explained  to  me  later  [when  Arrhenius 
was  presented  with  the  Nobel  prize]  that  he  knew  very 
well  that  there  are  so  many  different  theories  formed, 
and  that  they  are  all  almost  certain  to  be  wrong,  for 
after  a  short  tune  they  disappear;  and  therefore  by 
using  the  statistical  manner  of  forming  his  ideas 
he  concluded  that  my  theory  also  would  not  exist 
long"  [!] 

Newlands'  Law  of  Octaves  anticipated  the  Periodic 
Law,  but  the  ridicule  that  was  heaped  upon  it  by  mem- 
bers of  the  English  chemical  society  completely  dis- 
couraged him.  Not  so  Arrhenius.  Having  failed  in 
his  own  country,  he  turned  to  foreign  lands  and  wrote  to 
Clausius,  Thomson,  and — again  by  a  happy  inspiration — 
Ostwald.  The  first  two  replied  in  a  friendly  tone: 
"They  were  glad  to  make  my  acquaintance,  but  not 
much  more." 

Ostwald,  however,  was  deeply  impressed.  He  had 
worked  much  on  the  chemical  activity  of  acids,  and  now, 
with  the  help  of  Arrhenius's  dissertation,  he  investigated 
their  electrical  activity,  and  found  that  the  two  ran 
proportionally. 

In  later  years,  when  Arrhenius's  theory  had  well  nigh 
assumed  the  majesty  of  a  law,  Ostwald  was  fond  of 
relating  how  he  got,  on  the  same  day,  the  Swede's  dis- 
sertation, a  toothache  and  a  nice  daughter.  "  That  was 
too  much  for  one  day,"  was  Arrhenius's  comment; 
"  the  worst  was  the  dissertation,  for  the  others  developed 
quite  normally." 

"  The  worst  was  the  dissertation."  Quite  true.  The 
struggle  was  but  in  its  infancy. 

116 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

He  had  made,  however,  one  all-powerful  adherent. 
In  Ostwald  he  found  a  man  who  is  the  expounder  par 
excellence.  What  Huxley  was  to  Darwin,  Ostwald 
became  to  Arrhenius;  and  Ostwald  is  a  first-class 
scientist,  a  gifted  writer  and  a  fighter  to  be  feared — 
further  unmistakable  resemblances  to  the  great  Huxley 
of  the  Victorian  period.  The  battle  of  the  "ions" 
in  the  eighties  and  nineties  waxed  just  as  hot  as  the 
battles  over  the  descent  of  man  in  the  sixties  and  the 
seventies. 

The  analogy  may  be  carried  a  step  further.  In 
Darwin's  days  the  battle  was  no  less  severe,  though  such 
choice  spirits  as  Malthus  and  Lyell  had  anticipated, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  paved  the  way  for  Darwin's 
work.  So  prior  to  Arrhenius's  day  the  rumblings  of  a 
storm  were  announced  by  Valson  and  Raoult  and  Gay- 
Lussac  and  Williamson  and  Clausius.  Even  Lord 
Rayleigh,  as  president  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  in  1884  said :  "...  from  the 
further  study  of  electrolysis  we  may  expect  to  gain 
improved  views  as  to  the  nature  of  chemical  reactions, 
and  of  the  forces  concerned  in  bringing  them  about. 
...  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  next  great  advance, 
of  which  we  have  already  seen  some  foreshadowing,  will 
come  on  this  side." 

What  could  be  plainer?  But  Rayleigh,  renowned 
physicist  that  he  was,  spoke  as  a  voice  in  the  wilderness. 
The  multitude  could  not  and  would  not  see. 

Ostwald  came  to  see  Arrhenius  in  Stockholm  to  talk 
matters  over,  and,  incidentally,  to  give  a  certain  amount 
of  prestige  to  the  young  doctor.  In  Upsala  Ostwald  saw 
Cleve  who,  taking  up  a  water  solution,  said  to  the  Riga 
professor,  "  And  you  also  are  a  believer  in  these  little 
sodium  atoms  swimming  around?  " — to  which  Ostwald 
replied  that  he  thought  there  was  some  truth  in  that 

117 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

idea.  "  Cleve  threw  a  look  at  me  which  clearly  showed 
that  he  didn't  think  much  of  my  chemical  knowledge." 

The  university  authorities  granted  Arrhenius  the 
doctor's  degree,  but  their  commendation — "  non  sine 
laude  approbateur  " — showed  that  the  dissertation  had 
aroused  no  great  enthusiasm  in  their  breasts. 

Arrhenius  now  decided  to  do  what  many  an  American 
prodigy  has  been  forced  to  do :  he  decided  to  leave  his 
country  and  fight  for  recognition  in  foreign  lands.  He 
knew  well  enough  that  should  he  come  back  crowned 
by  the  approval  of  the  great  masters  of  Europe,  the 
former  scoffers  would  become  his  loudest  admirers. 
So  he  made  arrangements  to  accept  Ostwald's  hospitality 
in  Riga  and  pursue  further  investigations  at  the  poly- 
technic school  there. 

Both  met  later  at  the  Naturforscher-versammlung 
(similar  to  our  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science)  in  Magdeburg,  with  the  object  of  proceeding 
to  Riga  together  after  the  conclusion  of  that  gathering. 
But  the  illness  of  Arrhenius's  father  temporarily  upset 
all  plans,  and  Arrhenius  returned  home. 

His  father  died  in  the  spring  of  1885,  and  about  a 
year  later  Arrhenius  set  out  for  Riga,  materially  eased 
by  a  stipend  which  he  had  received  from  the  Swedish 
Academy  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  teacher, 
Edlung. 

Ostwald  had  set  aside  part  of  his  own  private  labora- 
tory for  Arrhenius's  use,  and  though  the  two  did  not  work 
together,  they  had  ample  opportunity  for  ultimate  dis- 
cussion, and  this  led  to  a  friendship  which  grows  stronger 
day  by  day. 

After  spending  the  winter,  spring  and  summer  with 
Ostwald,  Arrhenius,  true  to  his  undertaking,  left  for 
Wiirzburg  to  study  under  Kohlrausch.  Here  he  came 
upon  van't  Hoff's  celebrated  memoir  on  osmotic  pres- 

118 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

sure,  in  which  Raoult's  work  was  extensively  discussed. 
It  now  became  quite  clear  to  Arrhenius  that  all  electro- 
lytes consist  of  the  equivalent  of  at  least  two  molecules 
and  not  one — that  a  molecule  of  common  salt  (sodium 
chloride)  when  dissolved  in  water,  produces  the  effect 
of  two  molecules,  due  to  the  formation  of  the  two  ions, 
sodium  and  chlorine,  each  of  which  behaves  as  if  it 
were  a  molecule.  These  conclusions  now  rested  upon 
chemical,  electrical  and  thermodynamic  evidence.1 

The  above  explanation  made  clear  certain  anomalous 
results  which  van't  Hoff  obtained  in  his  experiments  on 
osmotic  pressure.  In  some  instances  the  osmotic  pres- 
sure was  twice  as  great  as  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  theoretical  considerations.  This  "  double 
bombardment "  of  the  molecules,  for  which  vanJt  Hoff 
made  allowances  in  a  mathematical  equation  to  express 
the  reaction,  was  now  seen  to  be  due  to  the  bombardment 
of  ions.  For  every  molecule  two  ions  were  formed,  and 
each  ion  behaved  as  a  molecule. 

This  led  to  a  correspondence  which  culminated  in 
a  rare  friendship  between  the  two  foremost  physical 
chemists  of  the  age. 

Writing  to  van't  Hoff  from  Wurzburg  in  1887,  Arrhen- 
ius makes  inquiries  as  to  the  possibilities  of  working 
in  his  laboratory  in  Amsterdam.  The  prompt  reply  has 
more  than  a  cordial  ring.  Van't  Hoff  advises  the  Swed- 
ish scientist  to  come  somewhat  before  the  vacation  is 
completely  over  "  so  that  I  may  give  my  entire  atten- 
tion to  your  visit." 

1  Prof.  Jacques  Loeb  informs  me  that  van't  Hoff's  first  paper 
on  osmotic  pressure  was  submitted  to  the  Swedish  Academy, 
and  the  secretary  of  that  body  passed  it  on  to  Arrhenius  for  an 
expression  of  opinion.  In  van't  Hoff's  paper  Arrhenius  found  the 
data  which  supplied  the  missing  links  to  his  theory  of  electrolytic 
dissociation. 


IIQ 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

After  a  brief  interval  spent  with  Boltzmann  in  Gratz, 
Arrhenius  proceeded  to  Amsterdam,  and  became  the 
first  foreign  student  of  the  physico-chemical  laboratory 
there.  Here,  as  in  Riga,  Arrhenius's  irresistible  per- 
sonality won  all  hearts.  Before  many  days  he  was 
"  Dear  Svante  "  to  the  head  of  the  place,  and  on  terms 
of  intimacy  with  Mrs.  van't  Hoff,  Eykman,  Reicher  and 
Van  Deventer — the  three  last  being,  at  that  time,  the 
most  active  workers  at  the  laboratory. 

If  Ostwald  did  much  for  his  Swedish  protege  it  is 
but  fair  to  say  that  van't  Hoff  did  little  less.  The 
Stockholm  authorities  were  never  for  a  moment  left  in 
doubt  as  to  the  opinions  these  illustrious  men  had 
formed  of  Arrhenius.  They  were  directly  responsible 
for  Arrhenius's  ultimate  appointment  in  Stockholm, 
despite  the  most  strenuous  objections  from  the  local 
body. 

Van't  Hoff  and  Arrhenius  were  much  together  in  later 
years.  These  two,  together  with  their  champion,  Ost- 
wald, formed  a  friendship  which  is  rare  even  in  scientific 
circles.  The  two  great  creators,  supported  by  their 
great  interpreter,  made  up  a  trio  which  led  the  way  in 
the  onward  march  towards  a  more  rational  chemistry. 

In  1910,  some  months  before  van't  Hoff's  death, 
Arrhenius  paid  him  a  visit  in  his  Berlin  home.  Writing 
to  Prof.  Ernst  Cohen,  Arrhenius  has  this  to  say  of  what 
was  to  prove  the  last  occasion  on  which  he  was  to  see 
his  friend:  "  At  first  van't  Hoff  looked  quite  a  pathetic 
figure.  His  voice,  always  so  musical,  was  now  quite 
hoarse.  He  was  forced  to  lie  on  the  sofa  for  pretty 
nearly  the  whole  day.  One  morning  Schmidt,  of  the 
ministry  of  education,  paid  him  a  visit.  Van't  Hoff 
was  somewhat  uncomfortable  because  this  man  found 
him  lying  down.  Later  van't  Hoff  said  to  me,  '  These 
fellows  think  that  one  must  be  quite  a  lazy  man  to  be 

120 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

lying  down.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  I  read  constantly, 
and  make  as  good  progress  as  if  I  were  sitting  up.' 
I  comforted  him  with  the  remark  that  I  had  done  more 
reading  in  bed  than  out  of  it.  I  noticed,  however,  that 
when  he  read  he  soon  got  tired  and  put  his  book  aside. 
There  is  no  question  but  that  he  must  take  the  utmost 
care  of  himself  not  to  allow  matters  to  take  a  turn  for 
the  worse. 

"He  accompanied  me  to  the  Stettin  station.  We 
drank  three  glasses  of  beer.  This  was  followed  by  a 
return  to  his  good  old  self.  The  eyes  began  to  twinkle, 
and  the  little  stories  to  flow. 

"  He  was  sorry  that  we  could  not  remain  together 
longer.  'We  are  getting  old  quickly — particularly  I,' 
said  he,  sorrowfully." 

From  Amsterdam  Arrhenius  proceeded  to  Leipzig,  to 
the  university  of  which  Ostwald  had  recently  been  ap- 
pointed, and  here  he  gave  the  finishing  touches  to  his  now 
classical  paper  on  electrolytic  dissociation — a  more  fin- 
ished product  than  his  doctor's  dissertation.  An  extract 
was  first  sent  to  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  the  paper  appeared 

i  in  its  entirety,  together  with  van't  Hoff's  equally  cele- 
brated one  on  the  analogy  between  the  gaseous  and  the 
dissolved  state,  in  volume  I  of  the  newly-created  Zeit- 
schrift  fur  physikalische  Chemie.  Rarely,  if  ever,  in 

,  the  history  of  chemistry  have  two  such  epoch-making 
papers  been  published  side  by  side  in  the  same  number 
of  a  scientific  journal. 

Their  publication  in  1887  did  not  lead  to  immediate 
recognition,  but  it  did  lead  to  fierce  opposition  on  the 

?  part  of  many  and  thereby  gave  its  authors  much  notor- 

'  iety,  so  that  to  every  chemist  and  physicist  the  name  of 
Arrhenius  became  familiar  if  only  as  one  associated 
with  wild  ideas  of  a  post-impressionistic  school.  The 
1890  British  Association  meeting  at  Leeds  gave  rise  to 

121 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS   OF  OUR  TIME 

verbal  cannon  which  in  intensity  has  been  equalled  only 
by  a  former  meeting  of  this  organisation  in  which  Huxley 
and  a  bishop  played  a  leading  role  (see  Ramsay).  In 
Berlin  the  wise  privat-docenten  spoke  learnedly  of 
immature  thoughts  based  on  a  quicksand  foundation. 
One  or  two  did  hint  that  an  idea  or  two  was  not  wanting, 
but  that  only  a  Helmholtz  could  have  developed  these. 
Even  in  far-off  America  Kahlenberg,  of  Wisconsin,  the 
leading  anti-ionist,  concluded  from  his  studies  as  late 
as  ipoo1  that  the  dissociation  theory  was  incorrect  and 
doomed  to  early  extinction.  But  just  as  in  England  the 
agent  for  the  firm  of  "  Ions  "  had  a  pretty  skilful  repre- 
sentative in  the  person  of  Ramsay,  so  here  H.  C.  Jones, 
and  later  T.  W.  Richards,  A.  A.  Noyes,  W.  D.  Bancroft,  J. 
L.  R.  Morgan,  and  others  who  had  imbibed  their  knowl- 
edge from  the  Leipzig  school,  proved  able  defenders. 

In  the  meantime  the  "  wild  army  of  lonians,"  as 
Horstmann  had  dubbed  the  celebrated  trio,  were  making 
no  end  of  noise  throughout  Europe.  Leipzig  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  concern,  and  Ostwald  the  director. 
Ostwald's  great  Lehrbuch  der  Allgemeinen  Chemie,  his 
Zeitschrift  and  his  splendidly  equipped  physico-chemical 
laboratory  which  the  university  authorities  had  specially 
built  for  him,  attrcated  enthusiastic  students  from  all 
over  the  world  who,  with  their  Ph.D.'s  in  their  pocket, 
with  their  minds  filled  with  their  "  ionic "  disserta- 
tions and  Ostwald's  "  ionic "  lectures,  and,  what  is 
far  more  to  the  point,  with  an  understanding,  after  several 
years  of  earnest  study,  of  the  true  merits  of  the  case, 
spread  the  new  gospel  far  and  wide. 

1  It  should  be  added,  in  justice  to  Kahlenberg,  that  some  of  his 
criticisms  cannot  be  lightly  passed  over.  That  there  are  imper- 
fections in  the  theory  Arrhenius  himself  has  been  the  first  to  admit, 
but  it  is  hard  to  see  how,  when  it  has  helped  to  explain  so  much  in 
our  science,  it  does  not  contain  the  germ  of  some  great  truth. 

122 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

In  France  alone,  strangely  enough,  the  new  fashion 
was  very  slow  of  adoption.  This  is  all  the  more  strange 
since  two  of  Arrhenius' s  illustrious  forerunners,  Gay- 
Lussac  and  Raoult,  hailed  from  there.  Perhaps  the 
second  startling  development  in  modern  chemistry, 
radium,  which  had  its  origin  towards  the  close  of  the 
last  century  not  far  from  the  historic  buildings  of  the 
Sorbonne,  absorbed  the  French  too  much. 

In  1891,  only  four  years  after  the  publication  of  his 
paper,  Arrhenius  was  offered  a  professorship  at  Giessen, 
the  university  made  famous  by  Liebig  who,  in  the  minds 
of  a  public  overfed  on  "  cures  "  of  all  kinds,  is  asso- 
ciated with  "  Liebig's  Beef  Extract."  But  the  Swede 
politely  declined  and  accepted  in  its  stead  a  modest 
lectureship  at  the  Stockholm  High  School.1  Four  years 
later  he  was  appointed  professor,  though  not  without  a 
struggle ;  which  clearly  showed  how  strongly  opposed  the 
men  there  were  to  his  views. 

Arrhenius  upon  closer  acquaintance  quickly  converted 
enemies  into  friends,  so  that  we  find  that  five  years  after 
his  appointment  as  lecturer  he  is  nominated  Rector,2  and 
renominated  three  times  in  succession.  The  third  time 
Arrhenius  simply  had  to  refuse,  since  executive  duties 
were  eating  too  much  into  his  research  time. 

The  Germans  had  tried  once  to  get  hold  of  van't 
Hoff,  and  tried  again  when  the  first  attempt  was  unsuc- 
'  cessful,  the  second  time  with  better  results.  Their 
strategy  was  now  repeated.  Having  failed  to  get  Arrhen- 
ius for  Giessen  they,  in  1905,  offered  him  a  post  similar 
to  the  one  which  van't  Hoff  had  accepted  several  years 
before — as  "  Academiker  "  in  Berlin;  which  meant  a 

1  It  should  be  made  clear  at  this  point  that  the  continental  idea 
of  a  high  school  is  more  the  equivalent  of  a  university. 

2  A  position  not  strictly  comparable  to  any  we  have  in  this  country. 
Its  nearest  approach  is  that  of  president  of  a  university. 

123 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS   OF  OUR  TIME 

full  professorship,  a  private  laboratory,  a  compulsory 
lecture  of  once  a  week  and  perfect  freedom  the  rest  of 
the  time,  and  an  income  quite  sufficient  for  modest  wants. 
This  he  also  refused.  His  countrymen,  now  quite  con- 
vinced that  the  world  outside  of  Sweden  was  ready  to 
acclaim  him  as  one  of  Sweden's  greatest  sons,  invited 
him  to  become  Director  of  the  Nobel  Institute  for 
Physical  Chemistry  in  Stockholm,  a  post  he  still  holds. 
Recently  (1919)  he  was  elected  vice-president  of  the 
Nobel  Board  of  Trustees. 

Arrhenius's  training,  as  we  have  seen,  had  as  much — 
and  more — of  physics  and  mathematics,  as  chemistry. 
His  great  teacher,  Edlung,  whose  electrical  problems  led 
him  to  cosmogenic  ones  also,  probably  fired  Arrhenius 
with  a  desire  to  invade  the  domain  of  astronomy.  At 
the  Stockholm  High  School  he  gave  a  course  of  lectures 
on  cosmic  physics,  embracing  the  heavens,  earth  and 
atmosphere,  which  were  published  in  1901  in  a  volume 
of  over  one  thousand  pages.  This  led  him  to  problems 
which  were  insoluble  if  the  views  then  held  were  applied. 
The  key  to  much  of  his  difficulty  he  found  in  introducing 
the  conception  of  "  radiation  pressure  " — a  pressure 
exerted  by  rays  of  light,  of  heat  or  of  any  other  kind  of 
radiation  when  falling  upon  a  surface.  With  this  con- 
ception in  mind,  Kelvin's  and  Helmholtz's  theory  of 
panspermia — that  life-giving  seeds  drift  about  in  space— 
gains  in  probability;  for,  by  the  introduction  of  "  radi- 
ation pressure,"  the  difficulty  of  explaining  how  germs 
transported  from  one  planet  to  another  in  a  time  through 
which  their  life  can  be  preserved,  is  largely  removed. 

Solar  systems,  according  to  Arrhenius,  are  evolved 
from  nebulae  by  collision  of  suns.  Around  newly- 
formed  suns  there  circulate  smaller  celestial  bodies  which 
cool  more  rapidly  than  the  central  sun.  "  When  these 
satellites  have  provided  themselves  with  a  central  crust, 

124 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

which  will  partly  be  covered  by  water,  they  may,  under 
favorable  conditions,  harbor  organic  life,  as  the  earth 
and  probably  also  Venus  and  Mars  do." 

Arrhenius  agrees  with  Helmholtz  in  denying  the  trans- 
formation of  inorganic*matter  to  organic  matter  endowed 
with  "life."  Helmholtz  in  1871  said:  "It  seems  to 
me  a  perfectly  just  procedure,  if  we,  after  the  failure 
of  all  our  attempts  to  produce  organisms  from  lifeless 
matter,  put  the  question,  whether  life  has  had  a  begin- 
ning at  all,  or  whether  seeds  have  not  been  carried  from 
one  planet  to  another  and  have  developed  everywhere 
where  they  have  fallen  on  fertile  soil." 

This  theory  of  panspermia,  as  further  developed  by 
Arrhenius,  postulates  that  the  seeds  of  life,  floating  in 
space,  occasionally  encounter  planets,  and,  provided  the 
condition  on  these  planets  is  favorable,  these  seeds,  so 
deposited,  may  blossom  further. 

If  one  remembers  that  the  spores  of  many  bacteria 
are  about  one  millionth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  it  is 
conceivable  that  the  radiation  pressure  of  a  sun  would  be 
sufficient  to  start  them  off  into  space. 

A  body  moving  at  the  average  speed  of  a  train,  say 
thirty-seven  miles  an  hour,  would  take  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  to  go  from  the  earth  to  Mars,  and  seventy 
thousand  million  years  from  the  solar  system  to  the 
nearest  fixed  star,  Alpha  Centauri.  This  seems  a  trifle 
long  for  a  germ  to  remain  alive!  However,  the  con- 
ception of  radiation  pressure  as  a  force  reduces  the  time 
to  twenty  days  and  nine  thousand  years  respectively. 

Twenty  days  seems  reasonable,  but  nine  thousand 
i years!    Here  again  other  factors  must  be  taken  into 
'consideration — the  intense  cold,  light,  dryness,  etc.,  in 
interstellar  space.    Both  biology  and  chemistry  give 
Arrhenius' s  fertile  mind  a  helping  hand. 
10  125 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

To  begin  with,  spores  of  bacteria  have  been  kept  for 
more  than  six  months  at  two  hundred  degrees  (centi- 
grade) below  zero  without  appreciable  injury,  Further, 
germs  of  splenic  fever,  for  example,  have  been  shown  by 
Roux,  of  the  famous  Pasteur  Institute  in  France,  to 
remain  intact  by  means  of  light  in  a  vacuum — a  condition 
somewhat  comparable  to  that  existing  in  interstellar 
space.  Over  sulphuric  acid,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
substances  for  absorbing  moisture,  spores  have  been 
kept  for  twenty  weeks  without  losing  their  vitality. 

And  now  for  the  climax,  with  the  physico-chemist  to 
the  forefront! 

It  is  well  known  that  all  chemical  reactions  are  con- 
siderably reduced  at  low  temperatures.  A  fall  of  ten 
degrees  (centigrade)  reduces  the  speed  of  a  reaction  in 
the  ratio  of  five  to  two.  "  The  loss  of  vitality  in  inter- 
stellar space  at  two  hundred  and  twenty  degrees  below 
zero  would  be  more  than  one  hundred  million  times  less 
rapid  than  the  loss  at  ten  degrees — which  means  that  a 
journey  of  three  million  years  through  space  would  be 
no  more  injurious  than  a  single  day  of  exposure  to  ter- 
restrial spring  temperature."  So  what's  a  mere  nine 
thousand  years! 

In  Arrhenius's  books,  Worlds  in  the  Making,  and 
The  Destiny  of  the  Stars,  these  fascinating  problems 
which  fire  the  imagination  are  treated  at  length. 

It  needs  to  be  emphasised  here  that  the  meteoric 
theories  of  Kelvin,  Helmholtz  and  Arrhenius,  while 
giving  us  an  idea  as  to  the  mode  of  transportation  of 
germs,  are  irrelevant  in  so  far  as  origin  goes,  for  in  their 
attempt  to  explain  the  first  sign  of  life  on  this  planet  they 
presuppose  the  existence  of  a  germ  elsewhere.  Merely 
to  say  that  life  has  had  no  beginning  is  begging  the 
question.  If  we  must  have  a  hypothesis — and  this  for 
thinking  men  is  too  irresistible — we  might  as  well  be  as 

126 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

bold  as  Schafer,  the  Edinburgh  physiologist,  who  holds 
that  life  originated  as  a  result  of  the  gradual  evolution 
of  inanimate  material.  In  process  of  time  the  simple 
substance  became  more  and  more  complex  and  ulti- 
mately emerged  as  the  living  germ — the  nitrogenous 
colloid. 

But  Schafer  goes  a  step  further.  Why  are  we  to 
suppose  that  this  happened  but  once,  as  all  theories  with 
regard  to  origin  have  thus  far  assumed?  Why  are  we 
to  suppose  that  at  one  time  in  the  dim  past  a  series  of 
fortunate  accidents  made  life  possible?  Is  it  not  more 
logical  to  assume  that  these  evolutionary  processes  are 
going  on  to-day  and  will  continue  to  do  so? 

Though  even  Huxley  was  of  the  opinion  that  at  one 
time  there  was  "  an  evolution  of  living  protoplasm  from 
not  living  matter,"  the  idea  that  we  should  not  relegate 
the  process  to  some  remote  period  in  the  past  is  a  com- 
paratively new  one,  and  has  not  by  any  means  received 
the  approval  of  many  otherwise  loyal  chemico-physiolo- 
gists.  These  argue,  with  no  small  show  of  reason,  that 
continuous  life  production  would  imply  similar  terrestrial 
conditions  throughout  the  ages;  and  this  we  know  not 
to  be  the  case. 

The  ultra-scientific  view,  of  which  Schafer  is  a  shining 
example,1    is   based   primarily  upon   analogy — a   very 
valuable  method  provided  its  limitations  are  not  abused, 
and  provided,  also,  sufficient  experimental  data  are  at 
i  hand.    The  movement  of  oil  drops  and  the  interchange 
1  of  substance  hi  osmosis  are  certainly  quicksand  founda- 
tions upon  which  to  build  inter-relationship  theories  of 
the  animate  and  the  inanimate.    This  superficial  con- 
nection between  these  physical  changes  and  life  processes 
fails  to  stand  the  test  of  adaptation  and  coordination — to 
'  name  but  two  characteristic  features  of  the  vital  sub- 
1  See  also  Prof.  Jacque  Loeb's  Mechanistic  Conception  of  Life. 
127 

i 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

stance.  Indeed,  our  knowledge  is  so  remarkably  ex- 
tensive that  we  cannot  as  yet  state  the  simplest  vital 
manifestation  in  terms  of  science. 

If,  then,  Arrhenius  and  all  others,  have  failed  to  solve 
the  riddle  as  to  the  origin  of  life,  he  has  practically 
solved  the  mystery  of  the  transfer  of  life  from  one  planet 
to  another — which  in  itself  is  a  great  triumph.1 

If  Arrhenius  has  thought  on  the  subject  of  life  in 
interstellar  space,  he  has  also  given  attention  to  the 
possible  better  understanding  of  the  living  organism  by 
the  application  of  his  refined  physico-chemical  methods 
to  it.  In  his  two  books,  Quantitative  Laws  in  Biological 
Chemistry  and  Immuno- Chemistry,  his  views  are 
elaborated  in  a  highly  suggestive  way. 

In  the  preface  to  the  first  of  these  he  says:  "The 
development  of  chemical  science  in  the  last  thirty  years 
shows  a  steadily  increasing  tendency  to  elucidate  the 
nature  and  reactions  of  substances  produced  by  living 
organisms." 

The  problem  has  been  attacked  in  two  ways— (a)  by 
the  organic  chemist,  such  as  Fischer  or  Kossel,  who  has 
elucidated  the  structure  of  the  molecule,  and  (b)  the 
physico-chemist,  who  investigates  the  nature  of  chemical 
processes.  Biochemists,  says  Arrhenius,  have  thus  far 
shown  themselves  to  be  averse  to  the  second  method.2 

"  Biological  chemistry  cannot  develop  into  a  real 
science  without  the  aid  of  the  exact  methods  offered  by 
physical  chemistry  [quite  true].  The  aversion  shown  by 

1  It  should  be  added  tliat  the  several  romantic  touches  in  Arrhe- 
nius's  cosmic  studies  have  made  many  scientists  hesitate  to  accept 
his  views  without  reserve.    On  the  whole,  it  does  seem  as  if 
Arrhenius's  reputation  will  rest  more  on  his  theory  of  electrolytic 
dissociation  than  on  his  astronomical  work. 

2  This,  by  the  way,  is  not  true  any  more.    In  America,  particu- 
larly, the  physico-chemist  as  physiologist  is  not  rare;    witness 
Jacques  Loeb,  L.  J.  Henderson,  D.  D.  van  Slyke,  K.  G.  Falk,  etc. 

128 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

bio-chemists  [in  the  past]  who  have  in  most  cases  a 
medical  education  [this  is  certainly  not  true  either  of 
America  or  England]  to  exact  methods  is  easily  under- 
stood. .  .  .  The  physical  chemists  have  found  that  the 
biochemical  theories,  which  are  still  accepted  in  medical 
circles,  are  founded  on  an  absolutely  unreliable  basis, 
and  must  be  replaced  by  other  notions  agreeing  with  the 
fundamental  laws  of  general  chemistry." 

Arrhenius's  work  in  this  field  has  been  largely  hi 
immuno-chemistry — that  which  deals  with  the  protective 
agents  developed  by  a  body  when  a  toxin,  or  poison,  is 
injected  into  the  system.  The  most  celebrated  attempt 
to  explain  the  mechanism  of  this  reaction — which  since 
yon  Berhing's  immortal  studies  have  largely  absorbed 
tne  labors  of  many  bacteriologists — is  that  known  as 
the  Ehrlich  "  side-chain "  theory,  which,  in  its  sim- 
plest terms,  tells  us  that  each  toxic  substance  has  two 
groups  attached  to  it — a  "  toxophore "  group,  with 
which  it  exerts  its  poisonous  effects,  and  a  "  hapto- 
phore  "  group,  by  means  of  which  it  attaches  itself  to 
the  "  receptor "  group  which  is  found  in  every  cell, 
the  "  heptaphore "  and  the  "  receptor "  just  fitting 
one  another.  This  combination  of  cells  in  the  body  and 
the  toxins  leads  to  an  extra  production  of  "  receptor  " 
groups,  some  of  which  are  thrown  off  and  appear  in  the 
blood  stream.  It  is  these  which  constitute  the  anti- 
bodies— the  protective  bodies  of  the  organism. 

Ehrlich  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  toxin  and  anti- 
toxin neutralise  one  another  in  much  the  same  way  that 
a  strong  base  neutralises  a  strong  acid.  Arrhenius, 
however,  combats  this  view,  claiming  that  the  union  is 
of  a  much  looser  type,  belonging  to  a  class  known  as 
"  reversible  reactions."  He  compares  it  rather  to  the 
union  of  a  weak  acid  and  a  weak  base,  and  has  applied 
a  well-known  mathematical  equation  in  chemical 

129 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

dynamics  which  goes  under  the  name  of  Guldberg  and 
Waage's  Law  of  Mass  Action. 

It  should,  however,  be  added  that  experimenters  are 
not  wanting — and  they  are  physico-chemico-bacteri- 
ologists  and  not  necessarily  medical  men — who  regard 
the  toxin-antitoxin  combination  in  the  light  of  an  "  ad- 
sorption "  phenomena, — in  some  such  way,  say,  that 
animal  charcoal  removes  colored  impurities  from  vinegar 
or  a  raw  sugar  solution. 

By  1909,  the  25th  anniversary  of  the  publication  of  the 
theory  of  electrolytic  dissociation,  all  serious  opposition 
to  the  more  important  points  in  the  theory  had  dis- 
appeared, and  when  Ostwald  decided  to  honor  the 
founder  by  dedicating  a  whole  volume  of  the  Zeitschrift 
to  him,  many  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  chemical 
thought  contributed  articles  for  the  occasion.  One  may 
mention  Abegg,  Bancroft  (Cornell),  Le  Blanc  (Leipzig), 
Bodenstein,  LeChatelier  (Paris),  Ciamician  (Bologna), 
Dawson,  van  Deventer  (Amsterdam),  H.  Euler,  H.  C. 
Jones  (Johns  Hopkins),  W.  Osfwald,  G.  Tammann, 
A.  E.  Taylor  (Pennsylvania),  R.  Wegscheider  (Vienna) 
and  H.  J.  Hamburger. 

The  reaction  of  the  theory  of  electrolytic  dissociation 
on  the  chemists  who  witnessed  its  birth  and  watched 
its  growth  was  well  expressed  by  Sir  William  Tilden  hi 
1914,  when  Arrhenius  was  the  recipient  of  the  Faraday 
Medal  of  the  English  Chemical  Society:  "  With  regard 
to  the  theory  of  electrolytic  dissociation,  which  has  been 
the  subject  of  the  discourse  this  evening,  my  experience, 
perhaps,  is  very  much  that  of  a  good  many  others,  and 
probably  the  majority  in  this  room.  When  it  first  began 
to  be  discussed  seriously,  close  upon  twenty  years  ago, 
I  confess  I  was  among  those  who  were  strongly  hostile. 
But  I  felt,  as  tune  went  on,  that  I  had  to  lay  before  my 
students  ...  at  any  rate  an  exposition  of  what  other 

130 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

people  believed  in  regard  to  this  department  of  the  theory 
of  chemistry;  and  it  was  my  experience  that  by  merely 
presenting  these  views,  so  new  and  so  unacceptable  as 
they  were  to  me  at  that  time,  I  gradually  got  to  feel  that 
they  were  inevitable,  and  that  they  were  absolutely 
necessary.  ..." 

Even  his  own  countrymen,  with  the  weight  of  foreign 
authority  entirely  against  them,  could  no  longer  ignore 
Arrhenius,  and  to  attack  him  was  no  longer  safe  for  one's 
reputation;  so  they  compromised  and  presented  him 
with  the  Nobel  prize ! 

We  in  America  are  justly  proud  of  the  fact  that  we 
were  among  the  earliest  to  recognise  this  genius  from 
the  north  of  Europe.  He  has  received  and  has  accepted 
a  number  of  invitations  to  lecture  here  and  to  enjoy 
our  hospitality.  In  1904,  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition 
Arrhenius  was  one  of  a  group  of  distinguished  foreign 
visitors  which  also  included  Ramsay,  van't  Hoff,  Moissan 
Ostwald  and  Hugo  Pe  Vries.  As  late  as  1911  he  gave 
a  series  of  lectures  at  our  principal  university  centers. 
Fairly  tall  and  bulky  and  robust,  he  suggests  more  the 
prosperous  business  man  than  the  dried-up  philosopher. 
Like  his  German  and  his  French,  his  English,  aside  from 
an  accent,  is  clear  and  correct,  and  his  thoughts  are 
expressed  with  little  effort  in  this  foreign  tongue  of  his. 
His  lectures  are  like  his  books — his  sentences  give  rise 
to  pages  of  reflection. 

The  Dutch  and  the  Swedes  counting,  politically,  among 
the  smaller  European  powers,  have  given  the  world  two 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  two  greatest  chemists  of  our 
time.  Happy  will  be  that  nation  that  will  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  replace  every  Krupp  factory  with  a  great  uni- 
versity and  every  super-dreadnaught  with  a  van't  Hoff 
or  an  Arrhenius ! 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

References 

Some  of  the  sources  of  information  are  private.  A  de- 
lightful account  of  the  origin  and  development  of  the 
theory  of  electrolytic  dissociation  has  been  given  by 
Arrhenius  himself  in  a  lecture  delivered  to  the  Chicago 
members  of  the  American  Chemical  Society  in  1911,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  the  Willard  Gibbs 
Medal  to  him  (i)  .  Wilhelm  Ostwald  contributed  a  char- 
acteristically striking  portrait  of  the  man  and  his  work 
when  the  25th  anniversary  of  the  publication  of  Arrhen- 
ius's  classical  paper  was  celebrated  (2).  The  late  Prof. 
H.  C.  Jones,  a  pupil  of  Ostwald,  van't  Hoff  and  Arrhen- 
ius, has  some  good  touches  of  all  three  in  his  book, 
The  New  Era  in  Chemistry  (3).  Cohen,  in  his  van't 
Hoff  (4)  devotes  much  space  to  the  rare  friendship  which 
existed  between  the  great  Dutch  and  Swedish  masters. 

Arrhenius's  classical  paper  on  the  theory  of  electro- 
lytic dissociation  (5)  has  been  translated  into  English  by 
Jones  (6).  Arrhenius  himself  is  responsible  for  a 
volume  on  the  theory  of  solutions  (7).  The  influence 
Arrhenius's  theory  has  had  in  laying  the  foundations  for 
our  modern  chemistry  is  well  exemplified  in  the  volumes 
by  Smith  (8)  and  Stieglitz  (9). 

Cosmic  problems  are  discussed  in  10  and  n,  and  bio- 
and  immune-chemistry,  in  12  and  13. 

1.  Svante  Arrhenius:    Electrolytic  Dissociation.    Journal  of  the 

American  Chemical  Society,  34,  353  (1912)* 

2.  Wilhelm  Ostwald:    Svante  August  Arrhenius.    Zeitschrift  fur 

physikalische  Chemie  (Leipzig),  65,  V  (1909). 

3.  H.  C.  Jones:    New  Era  in  Chemistry  (D.  Van  Nostrand  Co. 


4.  Ernst   Cohen:    Jacobus  Henricus  van't  Hoff    (Akademische 

Verlagsgesellschaft,  Leipzig.     1912). 

5.  Svante  Arrhenius:    Ueber   die   Dissociation   der  in   Wasser 

gelosten  Stoflfe.    Zeitschrift  fur  physikalische   Chemie,  1, 
631  (1887). 

132 


SVANTE  ARRHENIUS 

6.  H.  C.  Jones:    The  Modern  Theory  of  Solution  (Harper  and 

Brothers.     1899). 

7.  Svante  Arrhenius:  Theories  of  Solution  (Yale  University  Press. 

1912). 

8.  Alexander  Smith:    Introduction  to  Inorganic  Chemistry  (The 

Century  Co.    1917). 

g.  Julius  Stieglitz:    The  Elements  of  Qualitative  Analysis  (The 
Century  Co.    1913). 

10.  Svante  Arrhenius:  Worlds  in  the  Making  (Harper  and  Brothers. 

1908). 

11.  Svante  Arrhenius:  The  Destinies  of  the  Stars  (G.  P.  Putnam's 

Sons.    1918). 

12.  Svante  Arrhenius:    Quantitative  Laws  in  Biological  Chemistry 

(G.  Bell  and  Sons,  London.    1915). 

13.  Svante  Arrhenius:  Immuno-Chemistry  (Macmillan  Co.    1907). 


133 


HETTCY  MOISSAN 

year  1907  was  a  particularly  sad  one 
for  the  world  of  science.  Within  a  few 
months  of  Moissan's  death  science  lost 
such  intellectual  giants  as  Perkin,  Men- 
deleeff,  Berthelot,  the  French  chemist,  Boltzmann,  the 
Austrian  mathematical  physicist,  Sir  Michael  Foster, 
the  English  physiologist,  and  Prof.  Marshall  Ward,  the 
English  botanist. 

In  the  history  of  chemistry  France  occupies  a  proud 
position.  One  of  her  sons,  Lavoisier  of  immortal  mem- 
ory, is  the  founder  of  the  science  of  modern  chemistry. 
Another,  Berthollet,  had  much  to  do  with  developing  a 
chemical  nomenclature.  Berthollet's  assistant  and  suc- 
cessor, Gay-Lussac,  has  given  us  the  celebrated  law  of 
gases  known  by  his  name.  Dumas  was  a  master  of 
atomic  weight  determinations.  Berthelot  was  a  minister 
of  state,  as  well  as  a  great  authority  on  thermochemistry. 
In  St-Clajre  Deville  we  have  one  of  the  founders  of 
physical  chemistry.  Pierre  Curie  had  much  to  do  with 
the  discovery  of  radium. 

Moissan  rightfully  takes  his  place  among  such  illus- 
trious scholars.  He  began  his  labors  at  a  tune  when 
chemists  had  all  but  deserted  the  field  of  inorganic 
chemistry  for  the  chemistry  of  the  carbon  compounds. 
The  cry  had  been  raised  that  inorganic  chemistry  had 
exhausted  itself.  Moissan's  work  soon  convinced 
people  that  the  cry  was  a  false  one.  Inorganic  chemistry 
had,  and  still  has,  rich  fields  for  investigators.  What 
was  needed  was  a  man  of  genius ;  and  such  a  man  was 
found  in  the  person  of  Moissan. 

135 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Starting  with  his  isolation  of  fluorine,  the  most  active 
of  the  elements,  and  one  closely  allied  to  chlof  ine  of  gas 
cloud  fame,  Moissan,  from  a  study  of  the  compounds 
of  fluorine,  was  led  to  his  celebrated  experiment  on  the 
artificial  production  of  the  diamond,  and  this  latter  hi 
turn  led  to  the  electric  furnace.  With  the  electric  fur- 
nace, scores  of  hitherto  scarcely  known  elements  and 
compounds  were  prepared;  among  them,  calcium  car- 
bide, the  source  of  acetylene. 

Moissan's  work,  unlike  many  of  the  other  great  work- 
ers in  the  field,  had  an  immediate  practical  bearing 
which  the  layman  could  appreciate.  Thus  the  electric 
furnace  readily  found  a  place  in  metallurgy,  and  the 
need  for  acetylene  gave  rise  to  an  immense  calcium 
carbide  industry.  Yet  Moissan  remained  a  compara- 
tively poor  man  to  the  day  of  his  death.  His  discoveries, 
instead  of  being  patented,  were  published  hi  the  French 
chemical  journals,  to  be  used  by  readers  hi  any  way  they 
saw  fit.  He  was  a  professor,  and  as  such  he  was  em- 
ployed by,  and  worked  for  the  people.  The  discovery 
itself,  and  not  what  the  discovery  could  bring  to  him, 
counted  with  Moissan. 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  emphasise  some- 
thing else.  One  must  not  measure  the  greatness  of  a 
man  of  science  by  the  standard  whether  his  work  can 
find  immediate  application  hi  everyday  life.  Were  such 
a  test  to  be  applied,  very  few  great  scientists  would 
remain.  The  application  of  the  laws  and  discoveries  of 
science  come  with  tune, — sometimes  sooner,  sometimes 
later,  but  come  they  do.  It  is  therefore  particularly 
difficult  to  point  out  the  practical  significance  of  the  more 
recent  contributions  to  chemistry.  Yet  even  here  re- 
sults often  show  themselves  sooner  than  expected. 
Thus,  to  take  two  cases  at  random,  van't  Hoff's  profound 
studies  of  chemical  dynamics  have  had  no  small  share  in 

136 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

contributing  to  the  solution  of  the  synthesis  of  ammonia 
from  its  elements;  and  Arrhenius's  theory  of  electro- 
lytic dissociation  has  opened  up  new  vistas  in  biological 
research. 

Ferdinand  Frederick  Henri  Moissan,  to  give  nun  his 
full  name,  was  born  in  Paris  on  September  28,  1852. 
We  can  afford  to  be  even  a  little  more  specific;  we  can 
add  that  the  name  of  the  street  was  Rue  Montholon, 
and  the  number  of  the  house,  5. 

His  father,  a  native  of  Toulouse,  held  a  position 
with  the  Compagnie  des  Chemins  de  Per  de  VEst. 
His  mother  (nee  Mitelle)  belonged  to  an  Orleans 
family. 

In  1864  the  family  moved  to  the  small  city  of  Meaux, 
and  here  Henri  was  sent  to  the  municipal  school. 

Among  the  teachers  at  the  school  was  one,  James, 
who  taught  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences.  The 
good  directors  were  evidently  of  the  opinion  that  while 
it  may  take  several  men  to  master  one  subject  such  as 
Greek,  it  probably  does  not  take  more  than  one  to  master 
several  subjects  such  as  chemistry,  physics,  astronomy, 
biology,  etc. — with  mathematics  thrown  in  to  give  more 
symmetry  to  the  list.  However,  James  was  a  very  good 
teacher,  and  he  early  recognised  hi  Moissan  a  boy  out 
of  the  ordinary.  James  offered  to  give  Moissan  private 
lessons  in  addition  to  the  instruction  at  school;  this  the 
boy  gratefully  accepted. 

In  addition  to  James's  exposition  of  the  sciences, 
Moissan  had  another  helper  in  his  father.  His  father's 
particular  science  was  chemistry,  and  Moissan  began  to 
receive  elementary  instructions  in  chemistry  when  he 
was  fourteen  years  old.  "  J'avais  commence  a  mani- 
puler  de  Page  de  14  a  15  ans,"  writes  Moissan;  "  et 
mes  premieres  legons  de  chimie,  donnees  par  mon 
pere,  sont  encore  gravees  dans  ma  memorie." 

137 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Probably  because  of  financial  difficulties,  Moissan  left 
the  school  in  1870  without  passing  his  university  entrance 
examination,  to  the  keen  disappointment  of  his  teacher, 
James. 

Moissan  set  out  for  Paris.  His  preference  for  chem- 
istry led  him  to  seetf  a  position  as  an  apprentice  in  a  drug 
store,  or  apothecary's  shop.  Such  a  position  he  found 
at  a  pharmacist's  located  at  the  corner  of  Rue  Pernelle 
and  Rue  Saint-Denis;  and  here  soon  afterwards  he 
achieved  his  first  victory  over  nature  by  saving  a  man's 
life  who  had  attempted  suicide  with  a  dose  of  arsenic. 

Duties  at  the  store  gave  no  time  for  study,  and  with- 
out passing  several  important  examinations  there  was  no 
hope  of  ever  becoming  a  pharmacist. 

At  this  point  it  is  perhaps  necessary  to  inform  some 
readers  that  the  pharmacist  hi  France  or  Germany  is 
one  who  has  gone  through  a  much  more  thorough  course 
of  training  in  preparation  for  the  practise  of  his  profession 
than  the  druggist  (self-styled  "  chemist ")  in  England 
or  America.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  pharmaceutical 
student  is  very  much  of  a  university  student,  and  his 
training  is  correspondingly  thorough. 

Moissan  had  a  school  chum,  Jules  Plicque,  who 
attended  Deherain's  lectures  at  the  Musee  d'Histoire 
Naturelle,  and  Plicque  told  Moissan  wonderful  things 
of  Deherain  and  the  Museum.  Moissan  paid  more  and 
more  attention  to  these  accounts.  He  was  ambitious; 
he  wanted  to  become  a  real  scientist,  and  for  this,  further 
schooling  was  necessary. 

Moissan  quit  his  "  job  "  in  1872  and  went  to  Fremy 
at  the  Musee.  He  supported  himself  as  best  he  could 
by  giving  private  lessons,  and  lived  in  the  hope  that  some 
day  he  would  be  an  industrial  chemist  making  as  much 
as  3,600  francs  per  year!  Three  thousand  six  hundred 
francs  was  the  very  maximum  to  which  this  lad  of  twenty 

138 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

aspired.  How  poor  financially  he  was  then  can  well  be 
imagined. 

Two  years  later  Moissan  exchanged  Fremy  for  De- 
herain,  the  teacher  of  his  friend  Plicque.  Deherain 
soon  took  notice  of  Moissan.  The  young  man's  leaning 
towards  industrial  chemistry  was  not  discouraged  by  his 
teacher,  but  hopes  were  also  held  out  that  good  work, 
coupled  with  the  fulfilment  of  several  university  require- 
ments, might  lead  to  an  academic  position. 

An  academic  position  was  what  Moissan  wanted  far 
more  than  any  industrial  one,  but  until  then  the  poor 
lad  had  thought  any  such  goal  entirely  beyond  his 
reach. 

He  now  prepared  actively  for  his  university  degrees. 
For  the  time  being  much  of  the  chemistry  work  had  to 
give  place  to  the  classics  and  physics — subjects  which  he 
had  neglected  since  his  school  days.  In  1874,  after 
several  attempts,  he  obtained  his  bachelor's  degree,1 
and  in  1877,  his  Licencie  es  Sciences. 

Even  during  these  days  of  hardship  life  had  its  bright 
spots.  At  the  Museum  he  formed  a  close  friendship 
with  Vesque,  the  botanist,  and  Etard,  the  chemist;  and 
during  his  army  service  at  Lille  in  1876  he  got  to  know 
Beclere,  Siredey  and  Walter,  all  three  medical  men. 
These  six  formed  a  very  close  circle.  Not  only  was 
science  fostered  among  them,  but  literature  and  the 
arts  were  also  cultivated. 

This  intellectual  group  proved  of  immense  value  to 
Moissan,  whose  irregular  education  needed  polish  to 
round  it  out.  He  acquired  a  taste  for  painting,  sculpture, 
historical  studies  and  belles-lettres,  and  incidentally 

1  To  get  a  bachelor's  degree  at  the  University  of  Paris,  or  at  an 
English  university — particularly  London,  exhaustive  final  examina- 
tions, theoretical  and  practical,  have  to  be  passed.  It  is  not  unusual 
even  for  good  students  to  fail  in  their  first  attempt. 

139 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

mastered  his  own  language  in  a  way  which  was  of  in- 
valuable help  to  him  later  as  lecturer  and  writer. 

This  love  of  literature  led  the  young  man  to  attempt 
the  writing  of  a  play — so  often  an  emotional  outlet  for 
the  youths  below  and  above  twenty.  The  play  must 
have  had  merits,  for  it  came  near  being  produced  at  the 
Odeon.  Perhaps  it  was  as  well  that  the  play  was  not 
produced,  for  it  might  have  made  him  neither  a  good 
dramatist  nor  a  good  chemist.  "  Je  crois  que  j'ai 
mieux  fait  de  faire  de  la  chimie,"  was  Moissan's  own 
comment. 

The  days  of  youth  and  health  and  hope  are  always 
delicious  memories.  Moissan  loved  to  recall  the  times 
when  he  and  his  friends,  poor  in  pocket  but  rich  in  mind, 
lived  and  laughed  and  were  happy.  Vesque,  who,  with 
his  violin,  gave  meaning  to  Beethoven,  did  much  to 
spiritualise  the  souls  of  the  little  company. 

Deherain  being  interested  in  plant  physiological  chem- 
istry, Moissan's  first  research  naturally  fell  in  this  field. 
It  dealt  with  the  interchange  of  oxygen  and  carbon  di- 
oxide in  the  leaves  of  plants,  and  was  used  as  a  part 
thesis  for  the  apothecary's  license. 

But  even  during  the  progress  of  this  research  Moissan 
had  decided  not  to  specialise  in  organic  chemistry. 
Deherain's  advice  against  such  a  step  did  not  change 
Moissan's  decision;  the  young  man  wished  to  turn 
his  attention  to  inorganic  chemistry.  But  did  Moissan 
know  that  inorganic  chemistry  offered  but  a  barren 
field?  No  matter,  said  Moissan,  it  can  still  be  culti- 
vated. 

We  are  not  sure  just  what  led  Moissan  to  such  a 
happy  choice.  Perhaps  Dumas'  complaint  in  1876  had 
something  to  do  with  it.  "  Notre  pays,"  said  Dumas, 
"  tient  largement  sa  place  en  chimie  organique,  il 
neglige  trop  la  chimie  de  corps  inorganiques."_  And 

140 


HENRY   MOISSAN 

what  was  true  of  France  was  true  of  the  rest  of  Europe. 
Yet  even  France  had  a  man,  St. -Claire  Deville,  whose 
fame  did  not  rest  upon  his  organic  chemistry  researches. 
Neither,  however,  did  they  deal  with  the  purely  inorganic, 
for  the  vast  subject  of  dissociation  belongs  to  a  third 
branch  of  the  science — physical  chemistry. 

Whatever  the  reason,  nothing  could  have  been  more 
fortunate.  What  the  renaissance  was  to  the  revival  of 
learning  in  Europe,  Moissan  became  to  the  revival  of 
inorganic  chemical  scholarship  in  the  universities  and 
factories. 

Of  his  three  hundred  papers  or  so,  almost  every  one 
deals  with  experimental  inorganic  chemistry.  Very  few 
touch  even  upon  theory.  They  were  published  either 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  French  Academy,  in  the 
Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Phisique,  or  in  the  Bulletin 
de  la  Societe  chimique  de  Paris. 

In  1879  Moissan  obtained  his  diploma  of  Pharmacien 
de  premiere  Classe,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was 
granted  the  degree  of  Docteur  es  Sciences  physiques 
with  the  presentation  of  a  thesis  on  the  oxides  of  chro- 
mium— one  of  his  earliest  papers  in  his  newly-chosen 
field. 

The  first  academic  appointment  came  to  him  when  he 
was  twenty-seven  years  old.  It  was  as  Repetiteur 
[instructor]  de  Physique  at  the  Agronomic  Institute. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  made  Maltre  de  Con- 
ferences [lecture  assistant]  and  Chef  des  Travaux 
Pratiques  [senior  demonstrator,  or  associate]  at  the 
Ecole  Superiore  de  Pharmacie. 

Before  he  left  the  town  of  Mieux  several  years  pre- 
viously, Moissan  became  acquainted  with  one  Lugan,  a 
pharmacist,  and  incidentally  with  his  daughter.  Lugan 
had  a  perfect  passion  for  chemistry,  and  hence  followed 
Moissan's  career  with  much  interest.  Moissan  on  his 
ii  141 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

side  liked  Lugan,  Lugan's  chemistry  and  Lugan's 
daughter.  In  1882  Moissan's  courtship  and  prospects 
had  both  made  sufficient  strides  for  marriage  to  appear 
within  the  bounds  of  reason.  The  docteur  was  not 
only  accepted  by  Leoniey  but  Leonie's  papa  provided 
comfortably  for  the  pair. 

With  a  stroke  Moissan  became  the  happiest  of  men. 
The  marriage  proved  as  perfect  as  a  marriage  between 
two  human  beings  can  possibly  be,  and  the  income  pro- 
vided by  the  father-in-law  removed  the  chief  source  of 
worry  for  the  future.  In  1885  a  third  member  of  the 
family,  Louis,  joined  them.  "  If  I  am  not  in  my  labor- 
atory I  want  to  be  in  my  home."  What  better  com- 
mentary on  the  home  atmosphere  is  needed  than  this 
remark  of  Moissan's? 

The  work  which,  beginning  in  1884,  led  Moissan  to 
his  first  great  achievement,  the  isolation  of  fluorine,  has 
a  history. 

Fluorine  in  the  form  of  its  compounds  had  long  been 
known.  Without  ever  having  been  isolated,  the  ele- 
ment was  included  in  the  group  of  elements  known  as 
the  halogens,  or  salt  producers,  because  its  salts  showed 
striking  similarities  to  salts  of  the  rest  of  the  group. 
The  commonest  member  of  this  family  is  chlorine,  and 
its  sodium  salt,  sodium  chloride,  is  the  table  salt  so 
indispensable  as  a  food.  The  other  elements  belonging 
to  the  halogens  are  bromine  and  iodine. 

Chlorine  was  discovered  as  far  back  as  1774  by 
Scheele,  the  famous  Swedish  chemist.  In  1811  Courtois 
discovered  iodine  in  the  ashes  of  sea-weed,  and  fifteen 
years  later  Balard  discovered  bromine.  It  was  not, 
however,  till  1886  that  the  fourth,  and  last  member  of 
the  family,  fluorine,  was  isolated  by  Moissan.  The 
activity  of  this  element — it  is  the  most  active  (i.e., 

142 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

chemically  active)  element  known — had  prevented  its 
isolation  prior  to  this  date. 

Scheele  himself,  who  was  familiar  with  the  acid  de- 
rived from  fluorine,  hydrofluoric  acid,  began  experiments 
on  the  latter  substance  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  but  nothing  came  of  them.  Davy,  the  English 
chemist,  made  an  attempt  in  1813  to  isolate  fluorine  by 
passing  an  electric  current  through  hydrofluoric  acid. 
The  method,  with  modifications,  was  successfully  used 
by  Moissan  later  on;  but  in  Davy's  case  the  fluorine 
was  no  sooner  liberated  than  it  attacked  the  water  and 
anything  else  that  happened  to  be  present,  at  the  same 
time  being  itself  transformed  into  one  of  its  compounds. 
Gay-Lussac  and  Thenard  were  not  more  fortunate. 

Knox,  a  Scotsman,  spent  three  years  on  this  problem, 
and  then  had  to  go  to  Italy  to  recruit  his  health  which 
was  shattered  by  the  unavoidable  inhalation  of  the  vapors 
of  toxic  gases.  Louyet,  another  worker,  died  of  their 
effects.  In  1850  Fremy,  one  of  Moissan's  teachers, 
came  near  to  success  by  his  preparation  of  anhydrous 
(that  is,  water-free)  hydrofluoric  acid. 

Moissan  attacked  the  problem  in  1884  "  in  the  un- 
certain hope  of  at  last  being  able  to  isolate  the  element." 
By  the  distillation  of  a  mixture  of  arsenious  oxide,  oil  of 
vitriol  and  fluorspar,  he  obtained  a  fluoride  of  arsenic 
which,  when  electrolysed,  gave  him  arsenic  and  a  gas 
which  immediately  attacked  the  platinum  electrode. 

Moissan  now  returned  to  Davy's  and  Fremy's  experi- 
ments. Davy's  hydrofluoric  acid  alone  would  not  do 
because  it  contained  water,  and  Fremy's  anhydrous 
|  variety  had  the  drawback  in  that  it  was  a  non-conductor 
I  of  electricity.  Moissan's  success  depended  upon  the 
fact  that  the  addition  of  potassium  acid  fluoride  to  the 
anhydrous  hydrofluoric  acid  converted  the  latter  into  a 
conductor. 

143 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

To  withstand  the  action  of  fluorine,  the  apparatus  was 
made  of  an  alloy  of  platinum  and  iridium,  an  extremely 
expensive  combination.  Later,  however,  Moissan  found 
that  copper  could  be  substituted,  for  though  the  fluorine 
attacks  the  copper,  the  resulting  copper  fluoride  acts 
as  a  protective  coating,  and  prevents  further  disintegra- 
tion of  the  vessel  and  loss  of  the  fluorine. 

On  June  28, 1886,  Debray,  acting  on  behalf  of  Moissan 
(who  was  not  yet  a  member)  announced  to  the  French 
Academy  Moissan's  isolation  of  fluorine.  Such  an 
announcement  was  much  too  important  to  be  passed 
over  without  further  notice.  The  president  appointed 
Berthelot,  Debray  and  Fremy  to  investigate  and  report 
on  Moissan's  work. 

Lo  and  behold!  in  the  presence  of  these  august  men 
Moissan  could  not  get  any  fluorine !  He  tried  and  tried, 
but  no  fluorine  I  The  folio  whig  day  the  substitution  of 
new  materials  for  old  ones  solved  the  difficulty,  and  soon 
after  that  the  Academy's  representatives  were  convinced 
of  the  legitimacy  of  Moissan's  claim  that  he  had  really 
succeeded  in  isolating  this  most  elusive  of  all  the 
elements. 

Moissan  showed  that  no  element  was  safe  from  the 
attacks  of  fluorine;  it  readily  combined  with  most  of 
them  to  form  fluorides.  But  with  Ramsay's  "  inert " 
gases  of  the  atmosphere,  such  as  argon  or  helium,  it 
showed  no  action  whatsoever. 

Much  later,  in  conjunction  with  Dewar,  the  famous 
English  experimenter  on  the  liquefaction  of  gases, 
Moissan  succeeded  in  liquefying  fluorine  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  185  degrees  (centigrade)  below  zero;  and  even 
at  this  temperature,  though  the  liquid  no  longer  has  any 
action  on  glass,  it  still  attacks  hydrogen  and  hydro- 
carbons. This  is  remarkable,  for  we  know  that  just 
as  an  increase  of  temperature  accelerates  chemical  reac- 

144 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

tion,  so  a  decrease  of  temperature  retards  it.  At  185° 
below  zero  few,  if  any  substances,  have  much  chemical 
action. 

But  another  very  remarkable  fact  must  now  be  cited. 
The  researches  of  Victor  Meyer  in  Germany,  and  par- 
ticularly those  of  Dixon  and  Baker  in  England,  have 
shown  that  substances  tend  to  combine  less  and  less 
the  drier  they  are.  If  in  addition  to  being  absolutely 
dry,  the  substances  are  also  absolutely  pure,  it  is  ques- 
tionable if  any  chemical  reaction  is  at  all  possible.  In 
any  case,  in  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
perfectly  dry  fluorine  has  no  action  on  clean,  dry 
glass ! 

Moissan's  researches  on  fluorine  were  published  in 
book  form  in  1891  and  republished  in  1914  as  one  of  a 
series  belonging  to  Les  Classiques  de  la  Science. 

Ostwald  several  years  ago  in  his  Klassiker  commenced 
the  republication  in  pamphlet  form  of  some  of  the  more 
classical  researches  in  the  history  of  chemistry.  A 
French  committee  consisting  of  H.  Abraham,  H.  Gautier, 
H.  Le  Chatelier  and  J.  Lemoine,  arranged  for  the  French 
public  a  Classiques  comparable  to  the  German  Klassi- 
ker. Beyond  one  or  two  sporadic  attempts,  nothing  like 
these  have  appeared  in  English.  Why?  Are  we  for- 
ever to  lag  behind? 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  fluorine,  it  should  be 
added  that  recently  W.  L.  Argo,  an  American  electro- 
chemist,  has  suceeded,  by  a  modification  of  the  Moissan 
method,  in  getting  fluorine  easily  and  in  quantity. 

Moissan's  success  in  isolating  fluorine  did  not  go 
unrewarded.  The  Academy  awarded  him  the  Prix  la 
Caze  prize  of  10,000  francs,  and  soon  afterwards  (in 
1886)  he  was  appointed  professor  of  toxicology  at  the 
Ecole  de  Pharmacie^  in  succession  to  Bouis,  the  dis- 
coverer of  caprylic  alcohol.  Now  for  the  first  time 

MS 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Moissan  had  his  own  laboratory — a  small  one,  but  yet 
his  own. 

The  isolation  of  fluorine  was  quickly  followed  up  by 
an  exhaustive  study  of  the  combinations  of  fluorine  with 
other  substances.  Among  these  were  the  compounds  of 
fluorine  with  carbon.  Moissan  had  dim  hopes  that  by 
utilising  the  activity  of  fluorine  the  carbon  could  be 
separated  in  the  crystalline  form  of  diamond.  Moissan 
found  that  he  could  get  two  combinations  of  carbon  and 
fluorine,  but  these,  when  decomposed,  left  only  common 
carbon.  This  led  him  to  a  systematic  study  of  the 
varieties  of  carbon,  and  the  methods  of  changing  one 
variety  into  another. 

Diamond,  graphite,  lampblack,  boneblack  and  large 
percentages  of  coal  and  coke,  are  really  nothing  more  than 
different  forms  of  one  element,  carbon.  The  chemist 
gives  the  name  "  allo tropic  "  to  such  different  forms  of 
one  element.  Allotropic  elements  show  the  same  com- 
position, though  the  internal  structure  of  the  atoms  are 
probably  different.  Diamond,  graphite,  lampblack,  etc., 
when  completely  burned,  all  give  carbon  dioxide  and 
nothing  else,  proving  the  identity  of  these  allotropic 
forms. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  convert  diamond  into  one  of  the 
other  forms  of  carbon  by  strongly  heating  it,  but  until 
Moissan's  time  no  one  had  succeeded  in  the  reverse 
process.  Before,  however,  this  could  be  accomplished, 
Moissan  had  to  devise  some  scheme  for  getting  much 
higher  temperatures  than  were  then  available.  This 
led  to  his  famous  electric  furnace. 

In  its  simplest  form  (see  diagram  on  the  opposite 
page)  it  consisted  of  two  blocks  of  lime  with  central 
cavities  for  the  crucible  containing  the  material  to  be 
used,  and  horizontal  cavities  for  the  carbon  electrodes. 
The  furnace  measured  some  6"  x  6"  x  7",  and  required 

146 


Moissan's  electric  furnace. 


Moissan's  apparatus  for  preparing  fluorine.    [Reproduced 
from  Moissan's  books.] 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

a  current  of  four  horse-power  (about  60  amperes  and 
50  volts).  With  it  Moissan  obtained  temperatures  in 
the  neighborhood  of  4000°  Centigrade. 

Now  out  in  Arizona  Dr.  Foote,  a  mineralogist,  had 
shown  that  the  Canyon  Diablo  meteorite  contained 
microscopic  diamonds,  and  Moissan's  careful  study  of 
the  possible  formation  of  these  precious  stones  led  him 
to  the  belief  that  they  were  formed  from  ordinary  carbon 
as  a  result  of  great  pressure.  Accordingly,  in  one  of 
his  experiments  Moissan  heated  some  pure  iron  mixed 
with  carbon  (obtained  from  the  calcination  of  cane  sugar) 
in  his  electric  furnace.  The  iron  melted  like  wax  at  the 
enormous  temperature  of  the  furnace,  and  dissolved 
portions  of  carbon  in  much  the  same  way  that  water 
dissolves  common  salt. 

After  a  few  minutes  at  4,000°  centigrade,  the  crucible 
containing  the  molten  mixture  was  plunged  into  cold 
water.  In  this  way  the  outer  surface  of  the  iron  cooled 
more  quickly  than  the  inner  portion,  and  thereby  brought 
a  terrific  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  inner  contents,  still 
in  a  liquid  state.  By  this  means,  part  of  the  carbon  was 
converted  into  the  diamond  form.  After  suitable  re- 
moval of  various  impurities,  the  residue,  partly  trans- 
parent, partly  black,  and  microscopic  in  size  and  amount, 
was  shown  to  possess  the  characteristic  hardness  of 
diamond,  as  well  as  its  crystalline  structure  (octahedral 
facets). 

However,  the  artificial  production  of  the  diamond,  a 
scientific  fact  to-day,  is  not  a  commercial  success  as 
yet.  The  small  size  of  the  stones,  and  the  cost  of  their 
production,  make  it  quite  improbable  that,  for  the  present, 
the  laboratory  of  the  chemist  will  attempt  to  compete 
with  nature's  laboratory. 

As  with  Madame  Curie's  discovery  of  radium  several 
years  later,  the  artificial  production  of  the  diamond  was 

147 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

splendid  material  for  newspaper  gossip,  and  poor  Mois- 
san,  the  most  modest  of  men,  found  himself  lionised  by 
all  Paris.  Diamonds,  said  the  newspapers,  could  be 
made  so  easily  by  Henri  Moissan,  that  they  would  soon 
be  had  for  the  mere  asking.  What  would  the  De  Beers 
Company  in  South  Africa  do? 

Many  of  Moissan's  subsequent  experiments  were 
made  with  the  help  of  the  electric  furnace.  The  pre- 
liminary operations  were  first  carried  out  at  the  works  of 
the  Edison  Company  in  Avenue  Trudaine;  later  the 
basement  of  the  college  was  equipped  for  this  purpose. 

By  means  of  the  electric  furnace  and  the  high  heat 
thereby  afforded,  Moissan  liquefied  and  volatilised  such 
metals  as  copper,  silver,  platinum,  gold,  tin,  iron,  etc. 
Extensive  researches  on  the  combinations  of  the  ele- 
ments with  carbon,  boron  and  silicon  to  form  carbides, 
borides  and  silicides  respectively,  were  carried  out. 
Perhaps  the  most  notable  of  these  was  the  preparation 
of  calcium  carbide,  which  hi  the  presence  of  water  yields 
the  important  illuminating  gas,  acetylene.  Moissan  also 
prepared  silicon  carbide,  or  carborundum,  but  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  attached  any  importance  to  this  dis- 
covery. The  method  of  preparation  was  also  a  poor  one. 
The  discovery  of  carborundum  is  therefore  very  right- 
fully assigned  to  Acheson,  the  American  industrial 
chemist,  who,  working  quite  independently,  and  using 
a  much  more  practical  method  (sand  and  coke)  for  its 
preparation,  arrived  at  the  same  result,  and  immediately 
took  out  a  patent  for  the  process. 

The  study  of  carbides  also  led  Moissan  to  a  theory  of 
the  origin  of  petroleum.  In  brief,  Moissan's  view  was 
that  water,  acting  on  carbides,  gave  rise  to  various 
hydrocarbons  which,  when  mixed,  constitute  petroleum. 

With  the  electric  furnace  as  with  fluorine,  Moissan 
embodied  the  results  of  his  researches  in  book  form 

148 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

under  the  title  Le  Four  Electrique.  In  the  preface  to 
this  work  we  find  an  admirable  spirit  admirably  ex- 
pressed :  "  But  what  I  cannot  convey  in  the  following 
pages  is  the  keen  pleasure  which  I  have  experienced  in 
the  pursuit  of  these  discoveries.  To  plough  a  new 
furrow;  to  have  full  scope  to  follow  my  own  inclination; 
to  see  on  all  sides  new  subjects  of  study  bursting  upon 
me;  that  awakens  a  true  joy  which  only  those  can 
experience  who  have  themselves  tasted  the  delights  of 
research." 

The  work  consists  of  four  chapters.  In  the  first, 
various  types  of  the  electric  furnace  are  discussed.  In 
the  second,  the  results  of  studies  on  the  three  varieties 
of  carbon — the  diamond,  the  graphite  and  amorphous 
carbon — are  recorded.  Chapter  three  deals  with  the 
preparation  of  several  simple  substances  by  means  of 
the  electric  furnace,  and  also  describes  researches  on 
the  preparation  of  chromium,  manganese,  molybdenum, 
tungsten,  uranium,  vanadium,  zirconium,  titanium, 
silicon  and  aluminium.1  Chapter  four  describes  the 
preparation  of  various  carbides,  silicides  and  borides, 
calcium  carbide  receiving  particular  attention. 

In  1904  Moissan,  as  chief  editor,  published  the 
Traite  de  Chimie  Mineraile,  a  comprehensive  work  (in 
five  volumes)  on  inorganic  chemistry.  His  collaborators 
numbered  some  of  the  most  distinguished  French 
chemists,  such  as  Gautier,  Le  Chatelier,  Sabatier,  etc. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  1886  Moissan  became 
professor  of  toxicology  at  the  School  of  Pharmacy.  It 
was  not  until  thirteen  years  later  that  he  succeeded  to  the 
chair  of  "  mineral "  or  inorganic  chemistry.  Strangely 
enough,  during  all  these  years,  though  his  research  work 

1  The  f  easability  of  preparing  aluminium  (or,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  aluminum)  on  a  large  scale  was  first  successfully  demon- 
strated by  Hall,  an  American,  in  1886. 

149 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

was  pre-eminently  inorganic,  his  lectures  dealt  with  an 
entirely  different  subject. 

In  1900,  on  the  retirement  of  Troost,  Moissan  was 
unanimously  chosen  Professor  of  Inorganic  Chemistry 
in  the  Faculte  des  Sciences  in  the  University  of  Paris; 
he,  however,  retained  his  title  of  professor  at  the  Ecole 
de  Pharmacie. 

In  1888,  as  a  result  of  his  isolation  of  fluorine,  Moissan 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine. 
Three  years  later  Cahours*  death  left  a  vacant  seat  hi  the 
Academie  des  Sciences.  To  fill  this  place  the  names 
of  Moissan,  Grimaux,  Ditte,  Jungfleisch  and  Le  Bel 
were  submitted.  After  a  discussion  of  two  hours  the 
committee  decided  to  nominate  Moissan  and  Grimaux. 
The  latter  was  subsequently  defeated  by  eleven  votes, 
and  Moissan  thereby  became  the  confrere  of  Berthelot, 
Friedel,  Schiitzenberger  and  Troost.  Election  to  the 
Academy  is  the  highest  honor  a  French  man  of  science 
can  attain  in  his  own  country. 

In  1896  the  English  Royal  Society  awarded  its  Davy 
Medal  to  Moissan,  "  in  recognition,"  said  the  president, 
Lord  Lister,  "  of  his  great  merits  and  achievements  as 
an  investigator.  The  electric  furnace  of  M.  Moissan 
has  become  the  most  powerful  synthetical  and  analytical 
engine  in  the  laboratory  of  the  chemist."  Moissan, 
proceeded  the  president,  had  obtained  substances  whose 
very  xeistence  had  been  undreamt  of.  It  was  impossible 
to  foresee  the  bounds  to  this  new  field  of  Research. 

In  this  same  year  the  Royal  Society  awarded  its 
Copley  medal  to  Carl  Gegenbauer,  the  Heidelberg 
anatomist,  the  Royal  Medal  to  Archibald  Geikie,  "  the 
most  distinguished  British  geologist,"  and  the  Rumford 
medal  was  divided  between  Phillip  Lenard  and  W.  C. 
JRontgen,  whose  work  paved  the  way  for  the  discovery 
of  radium  several  years  later. 

150 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

In  1903  Moissan  was  selected  as  Hofmann  Medallist 
of  the  German  chemical  society;  and  in  1906  he  was 
awarded  the  Nobel  Prize  for  chemistry.  The  other 
Nobel  winners  for  1906  were  J.  J.  Thomson,  the  dis- 
tinguished English  physicist,  Camillo  Golgi,  of  Pavia  and 
Ramon  y  Cajal,  of  Madrid — both  anatomists,  Carducci, 
the  Italian  poet,  and  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

"  Moissan,"  says  Ramsay,  who  knew  him  well,  "  was 
a  practised  speaker  and  a  perfect  expositor.  His  lectures 
at  the  Sorbonne  were  crowded  with  enthusiastic  students, 
all  eager  to  catch  every  word,  and  he  kept  their  attention 
for  one  and  three  quarter  hours  at  a  time  by  a  clear, 
lucid  exposition,  copiously  illustrated  by  well-devised 
experiments. 

"  His  command  of  language  was  admirable ;  it  was 
French  at  its  best.  The  charm  of  his  personality  and 
his  evident  joy  in  exposition  gave  keen  pleasure  to  his 
auditors.  He  will  live  long  in  the  memories  of  all  who 
were  privileged  to  know  him,  as  a  man  full  of  human 
kindness,  of  tact,  and  of  true  love  of  the  subject  which 
he  adorned  by  his  life  and  work." 

At  five  in  the  afternoon  the  doors  of  the  big  lecture 
room  were  opened,  and  the  students  made  a  rush  for 
front  seats.  For  the  next  fifteen  minutes,  until  the 
appearance  of  the  professor,  the  young  men  passed  the 
time  by  shouting  and  singing  songs.  Punctually  at  five- 
fifteen  Moissan  would  walk  in,  and  immediately  a  pro- 
longed sh —  sh —  resounded  through  the  hall.  Woe  to 
the  student  who  made  his  appearance  after  five-fifteen! 
The  booing  and  stamping  left  the  late  intruder  in  no  false 
notion  as  to  the  opinions  of  his  fellow-students. 

Moissan  was  little  of  a  speculator.  His  papers  are 
remarkably  free  of  theories;  they  record  merely  the 
work  done  in  the  laboratory,  and  the  conclusions  to  be 
drawn  from  such  work.  But  it  does  not  follow  that 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Moissan  had  no  definite  goal  in  mind,  or  that  he  failed 
to  grasp  the  significance  of  facts  and  theories.  On  the 
contrary,  few  men  have  followed  up  clues  so  systemati- 
cally, or  drawn  such  sound  conclusions  from  their  work. 
But  Moissan  was  essentially  a  "  practical "  man,  who 
loved  to  handle  things  in  the  laboratory,  rather  than 
speculate  about  them  in  his  office.  He  is  the  author 
of  no  hypothesis,  of  no  theory; — certainly  of  no  law; 
but  as  an  experimenter  few  have  rivalled  him. 

"  Je  me  suis  applique*,"  wrote  Moissan,  "  a  cultiver 
cette  chimie  minerale  que  l'o#  croyait  epuisee,  et  je 
pense  que  mes  travaux,  ainsi  que  le  belle  reserches  des 
savants  anglais,  ont  pu  demontrer  que  cette  science 
reserve  encore  bien  des  decouvertes  a  ceux  qui  voudront 
1'aimer  et  Petudier  avec  tenacite"." 

Moissan's  fame  attracted  foreign  students,  particu- 
larly after  his  invention  of  the  electric  furnace,  which 
opened  up  such  vast  possibilities  in  research  at  uni- 
versities and  industrial  plants.  In  1899,  in  addition  to 
a  number  of  French  workers,  Moissan  had  in  his  research 
laboratory  two  Germans,  one  Austrian,  one  Englishman, 
one  American  and  two  Norwegians. 

Despite  research  which  was  often  not  quantitative  in 
character,  and  usually  planned  on  an  industrial  scale, 
Moissan  insisted  upon  scrupulous  cleanliness  in  the 
laboratory.  A  few  drops  of  water  on  the  laboratory 
floor  would  make  Moissan  exclaim,  "  Qui  a  fait  cela?  " 
He  certainly  gave  the  lie  to  Riess's  remark  that  chem- 
istry is  the  dirtiest  part  of  physics! 

With  his  wife  and  his  son,  Louis — his  only  child — 
Moissan  spent  his  vacations  travelling  through  pictur- 
esque parts  of  Europe.  But  as  a  representative  of  the 
French  Academy,  his  trips  were  often  extended  to  include 
centers  of  learning.  Thus  in  1904  we  find  him  at  the 
St.  Louis  Exposition  in  company  with  such  distinguished 

152 


HENRY  MOISSAN 

foreign  delegates  as  Hugo  de  Vries,  Ramsay,  Arrhenius, 
Ostwald,  etc. 

Moissan  died  in  1907  from  an  acute  attack  of  appendi- 
citis. There  can  be  little  question  that  the  inhalation 
of  toxic  gases  such  as  fluorine  and  carbon  monoxide — 
the  latter  a  by-product  of  the  electric  furnace — shortened 
his  life  by  a  number  of  years. 

"  My  life,"  said  Moissan  towards  the  close  of  his 
career,  "  has  been  of  the  simplest — happy  in  my  labor- 
atory and  in  my  home." 

G.  B.  Shaw,  in  his  preface  to  Overruled,  tells  us  that 
"industry  is  the  most  effective  check  on  gallantry." 
That  certainly  helps  to  explain  why  research  workers  in 
science  are,  almost  without  an  exception,  very  happily 
married. 

On  August  10,  1915,  Louis,  Moissan's  only  son,  died 
on  the  field  of  battle.  The  young  man  who,  prior  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  was  an  assistant  at  the  college 
made  famous  by  his  father,  the  Ecole  de  Pharmacie, 
left  to  this  institution  the  capital  sum  of  200,000  francs 
for  the  foundation  of  two  prizes — one  for  chemistry  (prix 
Moissan),  and  one  for  pharmacy  (prix  Lugan),'m  memory, 
respectively,  of  his  father  and  mother  (nee  Lugan). 

References 

Paul  Lebeau,  one  of  Moissan's  assistants,  wrote  a 
very  comprehensive  review  of  the  life  and  labors  of  his 
master  (i).  Alfred  Stock,  another  of  Moissan's  stu- 
dents, is  the  author  of  an  equally  good  obituary  notice  (2). 
Sir  William  Ramsay's  Moissan  Memorial  Lecture  (3) 
is  a  rather  poor  specimen  of  the  gifted  Englishman's 
productions. 

Moissan's  researches  on  fluorine  have  been  published 
in  book  form  (4).  His  work  on  the  electric  furnace  (5) 

153 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

devotes  a  chapter  to  his  experiments  on  the  diamond. 
Sir  William  Crooke's  article  on  artificial  gems  in  the 
Encycl.  Britannica  (6)  is  well  worth  consulting. 

z.  Paul  Lebeau:  Henri  Moissan.    Bulletin  de  la  societe  chimique 
de  France  (Paris),  3,  i  (1908). 

2.  Alfred  Stock:   Henri  Moissan.    Berichte  der  deutchen  chem- 

ischen  Gesellschaft  (Berlin),  40, 5099  (1907). 

3.  Sir  William  Ramsay:   Moissan  Memorial  Lecture.    Journal  of 

the  Chemical  Society ,  101, 477  (1912). 

4.  Henri  Moissan:  Le  Fluor  (Libraire  Armand  Colin,  Paris.    1914). 

5.  Henri  Moissan:  Le  Four  Electrique  (G.  Steinheil,  Paris.    1897). 

6.  Encycl.  Britannica,  nth  ed. 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

^NCE,"  says  Anatole  France,  "  has  two 
geniuses — Rodin  and  Madame  Curie." 
The  foremost  scientist  of  France,  and  the 
greatest  woman  scientist  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  she  counts  politically  less  than  many  a  man 
fit  for  the  lunatic  asylum.  And  as  if  to  encourage  that 
conception  of  woman  to  which  so  many  men  cling 
tenaciously,  the  French  Academy,  numbering  among  its 
members  the  elite  of  French  intellect,  decide  that 
woman,  be  she  ever  so  much  a  genius,  cannot  be  ad- 
mitted into  their  sanctum.  If  further  proof  were 
needed  that  intellect  often  runs  counter  to  freedom, 
and  that  scientists  who  work  so  strenuously  for  an  en- 
largement of  their  scientific  horizon  often  belong  to 
the  most  reactionary  group  in  politics,  the  case  of 
Madame  Curie  affords  an  excellent  example. 

Within  the  space  of  ten  short  years  this  woman 
has  created  a  new  science,  radioactivity,  and  this  has 
opened  up  more  fertile  chemical  soil  than  any  other 
discovery  in  the  history  of  science.  It  has  given  us  the 
first  clear  insight  into  the  chemist's  promised  land,  the 
nature  and  possible  structure  of  the  atom,  and  holds 
possibilities  which  could  hardly  have  been  hoped  for 
from  the  accumulated  labors  of  scientists  during  the 
last  hundred  years.  In  speed  of  progress  radioactivity 
is  to  the  science  which  has  gone  before  what  the  aero- 
plane is  to  the  tortoise. 

This  momentous  discovery  belongs  to  Madame  Curie. 
To  be  sure,  the  way  was  paved  for  her  by  many;  to  be 
sure,  her  husband  was  a  good  helpmate;  but  in  spite  of 
12  i55 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

analogous  work  in  various  parts  of  the  world  by  the 
world's  most  gifted  scientists,  this  woman  triumphed 
where  all  others  failed,  and  to  her  belongs  the  reward. 
Since  her  great  discovery  towards  the  close  of  the 
?  eighteenth  century,  her  researches  on  radioactivity  have 
but  added  to  her  glorious  reputation,  so  that  to-day  she 
stands  crowned  as  the  greatest  woman  and  among  the 
very  greatest  scientists  of  all  times. 

The  inherent  qualities  which  go  to  the  making  of 
genius  certainly  never  have  been  the  exclusive  posses- 
sion of  half  mankind,  but  whereas  the  male  geniuses 
have,  at  times,  been  allowed  to  blossom,  the  females 
belonging  to  this  species,  have  until  recently,  been  sup- 
pressed with  a  Cossack's  ferocity  and  a  Cossack's 
justice.  The  past  four  years  of  critical  history  from 
which  mankind  has  just  emerged  will,  perhaps,  help  to 
remove  the  mental  fog  which  has  incapacitated  many  a 
man  from  using  his  brains  to  the  advantage  of  himself 
and  of  the  world. 

Madame  Marie  Sklodowska  Curie  was  born  in  Var- 
sovie  or  Warsaw,  Poland,  on  November  7,  1867.  Her 
father,  Dr.  Sklodowski  ("  squadoffski " — to  give  it  the 
Polish  pronunciation)  was  a  professor  in  the  gymnasium 
of  the  town,  and  locally  known  as  a  good  teacher  and 
sound  scholar.  The  death  of  her  mother  left  little 
Marie  much  adrift,  though  a  brother  and  sister  were 
there  to  share  the  misery;  and  were  it  not  that  from 
her  earliest  years  a  magnetic  force  attracted  her  to  the 
father's  laboratory,  Marie  would  have  been  left  much  to 
herself,  for  her  father's  life  was  his  work.  As  it  was, 
the  girl's  love  for  science  made  the  father  her  wor- 
shipper, and  until  she  was  old  enough  to  attend  school, 
Dr.  Sklodowski  was  her  sole  teacher. 

The  part  of  Poland  in  which  Marie  lived  had  become 
part  of  Russia,  the  two  remaining  portions  having  gone 

156 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

to  Russia's  appetizing  neighbors,  Germany  and  Austria. 
It  was  bad  enough  for  a  Russian  to  have  lived  in  Russia 
under  the  Czar's  regime,  but  for  the  Pole  conditions 
were  about  as  intolerable  as  for  the  Jew,  and  the  sensi- 
tive girl,  fired  by  her  father's  patriotism,  came  to  hate 
the  Russian  persecutors  with  the  zeal  of  a  religious 
fanatic.  Revolution  was  in  the  air;  everybody  who  was 
anybody — the  Pole  and  the  Finn  because  of  the  Russian, 
and  the  Russian  because  of  the  autocracy— was  a  revo- 
lutionist, ready  at  any  time  to  taste  misery  in  Siberia 
for  the  holy  cause.  Marie  joined  the  ranks.  Meetings 
were  held,  plans  drawn,  and  prayers  offered  for  the 
success  of  the  independent  movement.  Unfortunately, 
the  police  got  wind  of  the  affair.  A  number  of  Dr. 
SklodowskL's  students  were  among  the  ringleaders,  and 
Marie  herself  was  more  than  a  mere  onlooker. 

This  led  to  her  decision  to  leave  Poland.  Her  first 
intention  was  to  proceed  to  Cracow,  the  seat  of  an 
historic  university.  Cracow,  the  ancient  capital  of 
Poland,  was  now  part  of  the  Poland  belonging  to  Austria, 
whose  rule,  however,  was  quite  benevolent  as  compared 
to  the  rule  of  her  Russian  neighbor.  Here,  unlike 
Warsaw,  the  Polish  language  was  allowed,  and  Polish 
history  and  literature  cultivated. 

But  Marie  had  visions.  She  wanted  a  bigger  uni- 
versity still,  and  a  bigger  town,  yet  a  town  that  would 
remind  her  of  her  beloved  Warsaw.  Paris  was  such  a 
place.  Even  as  far  back  as  1810  Napoleon  had  recog- 
nised the  relationship,  for  he  said,  "  Varsovie 
petite  Paris."  To  Paris  then  went  Mile.  Sklodofska, 
just  as  many  of  her  countrymen  had  done  before. 

Times  change.  In  those  days  Mile.  Sklodofska  would 
hardly  have  dared  to  hope  that  within  fifty  years  her 
beloved  fatherland  would  come  into  its  own  again,  and, 
as  a  buffer  power  between  Russia  and  Germany,  help  to 

157 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

preserve  the  peace  of  Europe.  Chopin  and  Sienkiewicz 
no  longer  live  to  witness  this  glorious  day,  but  Conrad 
from  London  and  Mme.  Curie  from  Paris  can  watch 
Poland's  revival  and  its  effort  to  rehabilitate  itself 
among  the  nations. 

Miss  Sklodof  ska  did  not  arrive  in  Paris  as  a  conquering 
hero.  Far  from  it.  Her  pockets  were  empty  and  her 
acquaintances  few.  She  established  herself  in  the 
"  east  side  "  section  of  the  town,  in  a  small  back  room, 
four  flights  high,  to  which  she  carried  her  own  coal. 
Her  diet  consisted  of  bread  and  milk  for  so  long  that, 
as  she  herself  has  said,  she  had  to  acquire  anew  the 
taste  for  wine  and  meat.  Ten  cents  were  her  daily 
expenses,  and  this  she  made  largely  by  private  tutoring, 
and  later,  by  preparing  the  furnace  and  washing  bottles 
at  the  Sorbonne. 

To  other  geniuses,  Ramsay  and  van't  Hoff,  for  ex- 
ample, such  struggles  were  unknown.  They  were  given 
what  they  wanted  and  were  encouraged  to  do  their  best. 
The  struggle  for  existence  was  not  a  problem  to  them. 
To  Mme.  Curie,  once  outside  her  father's  home,  this 
struggle  became  paramount.  Yet  to  conclude  from  this, 
as  many  wiseacres  are  fond  of  telling  us,  that  the  struggle 
made  the  woman,  is  as  near  the  truth  as  to  conclude 
that  its  absence  made  Ramsay  or  van't  Hoff.  Material 
comforts  make  the  path  easier,  and  their  absence  make 
it  infinitely  more  difficult.  That  Madame  Curie  did  not 
succumb,  as  many  another  budding  genius  has  under 
like  circumstances,  is  an  accident  as  a  result  of  which 
the  world  has  been  made  much  the  wiser. 

In  those  days  the  head  of  the  physical  science  depart- 
ment at  the  Sorbonne  was  Gabriel  Lippmann,  whose 
pioneer  work  in  color  photography  is  known  wherever 
physics  flourishes.  He  was  attracted  by  the  superior 
knowledge  which  Miss  Sklodof  ska  showed  in  the  execu- 

158 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

tion  of  her  work,  which  developed  from  washing  bottles 
to  setting  up  apparatus.  Henri  Poincare,  the  great 
mathematical  philosopher,  and  a  brother  of  the  late 
president  of  France,  was  another  one  upon  whom  this 
young  girl  had  made  an  impression.  They  acquainted 
themselves  with  her  history.  Lippmann  got  into  touch 
with  her  father  in  Warsaw.  The  result  was  that  Marie 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  Pierre  Curie,  one  of  Lippmann's 
most  promising  pupils. 

Given  a  scholar,  an  impressionable  young  man,  one 
who  had  met  few  people  and  who  had  become  absorbed 
in  his  work,  and  a  bright  girl,  with  a  personality,  and  a 
keen  interest  in  the  same  type  of  work;  given  further 
that  the  man  and  the  woman  see  one  another  daily  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  the  possible  outcome 
might  have  been  forseen.  "What  a  grand  thing  it 
would  be  to  unite  our  lives  and  work  together  for  the 
good  of  science  and  humanity,"  runs  one  letter  from 
Pierre.  "For  the  good  of  science  and  humanity" 
smacks  of  too  much  altruism  hi  a  marriage  proposal, 
but  innocent  Pierre  Curie  meant  well,  and  Miss  Sklodof- 
ska  understood  and  sympathised  and  accepted. 

So  in  1895  the  two  were  married,  both  poor  in  life's 
necessities,  but  rich  in  sympathy  toward,  and  under- 
standing of  one  another.  Curie  continued  his  re- 
searches on  the  construction  and  use  of  electrometers 
and  condensers,  and  Mme.  Curie  assisted  in  this,  and 
also  prepared  herself  for  her  degree.  Within  three  years 
she  gained  her  licenciee  &s  Sciences  mathematique  et 
es  Sciences  physiques,  and  unlike  Pasteur  or  Ehrlich, 
who  made  a  poor  impression  on  the  examiners,  Mme. 
Curie  passed  her  examination  in  brilliant  style.  Here 
again  no  moral  should  be  drawn;  not  all  poor  students 
become  Pasteurs,  nor  do  all  senior  wranglers  become 
Curies. 

159 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

We  now  come  to  Madame  Curie's  immortal  piece  of 
work.  To  get  the  proper  perspective  a  short  introduction 
is  necessary. 

From  about  1860  on,  many  interesting  but  discon- 
nected observations  had  been  made  on  the  passage  of 
electricity  through  a  tube  from  which  nearly  all  the  air 
had  been  pumped  out.  In  1879  Sir  William  Crookes 
discovered  that  peculiar  rays  were  emitted  from  the 
negative  pole,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  "cathode 
rays."  Much  later  J.  J.  Thomson  and  others  showed 
that  these  rays  were  negative  particles  of  electricity, 
or  "  electrons,"  each  electron  weighing  about  one  two- 
thousandth  that  of  the  lightest  atom  known,  namely 
hydrogen. 

Then,  in  1895,  came  Rontgen's  discovery  of  the  X- 
rays  by  impinging  the  cathode  rays  on  the  walls  of  a 
glass  vessel.  The  application  to  medicine  of  these 
X-rays  was  immediately  recognised  when  it  was  noticed 
that  they  could  penetrate  flesh.  Rontgen  made  the 
further  observation  that  the  X-rays  act  on  photographic 
plates  in  their  neighborhood. 

One  year  later  Becquerel,  studying  the  general  be- 
havior of  phosphorescent  bodies,  had  occasion  to  ex- 
amine the  element  uranium  and  its  compounds,  and 
these  substances  gave  off  rays  which  resembled  the 
X-rays  in  their  affect  on  a  photographic  plate.  He 
further  made  the  extremely  important  observation  that 
the  rays  "ionised"  the  air  about  them;  or,  what  is 
the  same  thing,  converted  the  air  about  them  from  an 
insulator  to  a  conductor  of  electricity.  A  gold-leaf 
electroscope,  which  had  been  previously  charged  with 
electricity  so  that  its  two  leaves  diverged,  was  dis- 
charged with  the  consequent  collapse  of  the  leaves  so 
soon  as  uranium,  or  one  of  its  compounds,  was  brought 
near  it. 

160 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

This  brings  us  to  Madame  Curie's  work.  Adopting 
EecquerePs  method  of  detecting  the  presence  of  these 
rays  by  their  action  on  a  gold-leaf  electroscope,  she  made 
a  systematic  investigation  of  various  elements  and  their 
compounds  with  the  view  to  finding  whether  any  of 
them  possessed  this  ray-emitting  power.  Only  one 
other  apart  from  uranium,  namely  thorium,  was  found 
to  possess  such  a  property. 

But  the  next  observation  was  a  momentous  one. 
Madame  Curie  noticed  that  a  sample  of  pitchblende,  a 
mineral  from  which  most  of  the  uranium  is  extracted, 
showed  an  activity  which  was  four  to  five  times  as  great 
as  the  activity  produced  by  the  total  amount  of  pure 
uranium  that  could  be  extracted  from  this  sample. 

There  was  but  one  thing  to  conclude  from  this,  and 
that  was  that  some  other  element,  more  active  than 
uranium,  was  present  in  the  pitchblende. 

The  work  until  this  point  had  been  done  by  Madame 
Curie  exclusively.  From  now  on  her  husband  joined 
her. 

It  required  but  little  calculation  to  show  that  the  un- 
known element,  if  present  in  the  ore,  would  be  there  in 
extremely  minute  quantity;  the  importance,  therefore, 
of  starting  with  large  quantities  of  pitchblende  in  order 
to  extract  the  element  from  it  was  obvious. 

Through  the  kindness  of  the  Austrian  government, 
which  owned  the  extensive  uranium  mines  in  Joachims- 
thai,  Bohemia,  the  Curies  were  presented  with  one  ton 
of  pitchblende  from  which  the  uranium  had  been  re- 
moved. 

Most  of  the  common,  and  quite  a  number  of  the  un- 
common elements  are  present  in  pitchblende,  so  that 
the  analytical  procedure  of  separating  one  element  from 
another,  and  examining  each  fraction  so  obtained,  is  a 
tedious  and  difficult  one. 

161 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

The  plan  adopted  by  the  Curies  was  to  submit  each 
fraction  to  the  electroscopic  examination.  Naturally  the 
greater  the  conductivity,  the  more  active  the  fraction. 
In  this  way  a  constant  and  invaluable  check  on  the  experi- 
ments was  always  at  hand. 

The  large  quantity  of  raw  material  made  it  necessary 
to  conduct  the  initial  experiments  in  a  factory.  The 
quantities  were  gradually  narrowed  down  until  the  test 
tubes  of  the  laboratory  could  hold  them  comfortably. 
The  fraction  containing  the  common  element  bismuth 
showed  the  presence  of  a  powerful  radioactive  sub- 
stance, which,  after  many  trials,  was  partially  separated 
and  named  polonium,  in  honor  of  Madame  Curie's 
native  country. 

Further  examination  showed  that  the  fraction  con- 
taining the  element  barium  had  even  more  powerful 
radioactive  properties,  and  by  some  of  the  most  ex- 
haustive and  painstaking  experiments  in  the  history  of 
our  science,  recalling  those  of  Welsbach  on  the  rare 
earths,  Madame  Curie  succeeded  in  separating  a  salt 
of  barium  from  the  salt  of  the  new  element,  to  which  she 
gave  the  name  of  radium.  Radium  as  an  element  had 
baffled  all  attempts  at  isolation  in  the  pure  state  until 
1910,  when  our  heroine  solved  this  problem,  but  even 
the  salt  of  radium  showed  itself  to  be  two  and  a  half 
million  times  as  active  as  uranium! 

The  radiations  from  radium  were  shown  to  ionise  air, 
to  act  on  photographic  plates,  to  change  the  color  of 
minerals  and  gems,  to  impart  a  deep  violet  color  to  the 
glass  tube  which  contained  the  radium  salt,  to  convert 
ordinary  oxygen  to  its  more  active  form,  ozone,  to  pro- 
duce traces  of  peroxide  of  hydrogen  in  the  presence  of 
water,  to  destroy  minute  organisms,  and  to  kill  cells  of 
skins  and  produce  sores. 

162 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

That  radium  is  really  a  new  element,  and  not  some 
compound  or  mixture,  is  proved  beyond  doubt  by  the 
very  distinctive  spectrum  it  gives.  The  wave-lengths 
of  the  lines  of  this  spectrum  are  mathematically  con- 
nected with  the  spectra  given  by  the  elements  barium, 
calcium  and  strontium,  and  this  relationship,  together 
with  its  similarity  in  chemical  property  to  barium,  places 
radium  in  the  class  of  what  are  known  as  alkaline  earth 
metals. 

The  subsequent  development  of  radioactivity  has  been 
due  to  the  labors  of  many  workers  in  many  countries. 
Besides  Madame  Curie  and  her  husband,  one  may 
mention  their  assistant  Debienne,  Rutherford,  Soddy 
and  Ramsay  in  England,  and  Boltwood  in  America. 

The  value  of  this  work  may  be  gauged  by  the  recog- 
nition these  men  have  received.  Rutherford  has  lately 
succeeded  J.  J.  Thomson  to  the  Cavendish  Professor- 
ship of  Physics  at  Cambridge,  and  Soddy  has  made 
rapid  jumps  from  a  lectureship  at  Glasgow  University 
to  a  professorship  at  Edinburgh,  and  within  the  last  few 
months,  to  a  newly-created  chair  of  chemistry  at  Oxford. 
Boltwood  has  been  made  director  of  the  chemical  depart- 
ment at  Yale  University.  The  reputation  of  all  three 
rests  primarily  upon  their  researches  in  radioactivity. 

A  brief  general  account  may  now  be  given. 

Radium  gives  off  three  types  of  rays,  and  these  are 
distinguished  by  the  Greek  letters  a,  (3,  and  y.  The 
a-rays  have  been  shown  to  be  atoms  of  helium  which  are 
thrown  off  with  a  velocity  of  thirty  thousand  kilometers 
per  second,  or  about  one  tenth  that  of  light.  That 
helium  is  one  of  the  products  obtained  from  radium  has 
been  shown  by  the  work  of  Ramsay  and  Soddy  (which 
see). 

Unlike  the  a-particles,  which  are  charged  with  positive 
electricity,  the  g-particles  are  negatively  charged  ("  elec- 
ts 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

trons  "),  and  are  shot  out  with  a  velocity  equivalent  to 
light.  They  are  identical  with  Crookes'  "cathode 
rays." 

A  powerful  magnetic  field  will  bend  the  a-rays  in 
one  direction  and  the  (3-rays  in  the  opposite  direction. 
The  magnet  has  no  effect  upon  the  ^f-rays.  These  last 
are  identical  with  the  X-rays.  The  X-rays  are  further 
distinguished  by  their  penetrating  power.  Whereas 
the  a-particles  are  stopped  by  a  sheet  of  paper  or  alumi- 
nium foil  one  two-hundred-and-fiftieth  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  and  the  (3-rays  pass  through  gold-leaf  and 
through  aluminium  foil  up  to  two-fifths  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  the  f-rays  penetrate  thick  layers  of  metals. 

The  stoppage  of  these  various  particles  by  the  air 
molecules  with  which  they  come  in  contact  generates 
much  heat.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about 
this  remarkable  element  is  that  the  temperature  around 
radium  is  about  three  degrees  higher  than  the  tempera- 
ture beyond  its  immediate  neighborhood.  To  put  this 
in  another  way,  radium  emits  every  hour  enough  heat 
to  raise  the  temperature  of  its  own  weight  of  water  from 
the  temperature  of  ice  to  that  of  the  boiling  point  of 
water.  And  what  is  more  amazing  still,  its  heat-gen- 
erating power  seems  to  be  inexhaustible. 

In  1902  Rutherford  and  Soddy  advanced  their  "  dis- 
integration "  theory,  which  leads  us  to  believe  that  the 
a-particles  obtained  from  radioactive  elements  such  as 
radium  and  uranium  are  due  to  the  disintegration  of  the 
atoms  of  these  elements.  All  subsequent  studies  have 
brilliantly  confirmed  their  hypothesis.  Whereas  chemi- 
cal changes  are  changes  brought  about  between  atoms, 
radioactivity  results  from  the  changes  within  the  atom, 
and  unlike  chemical  reactions,  we  have  no  known 
methods  of  controlling  radiactive  changes.  We  cannot 
start  them  and  we  cannot  stop  them.  The  temperature 

164 


MARIE   SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

of  the  electric  arc  is  as  ineffective  as  a  temperature  of 
two  hundred  degrees  below  zero.  No  appliance  known 
to  man,  no  operation  known  to  the  scientist,  shows  any 
results  which  our  senses  can  recognise. 

This  opens  up  a  new  area  which  in  size  to  that  already 
explored  may  be  compared  to  the  size  of  America  with 
reference  to  the  rest  of  the  earth.  Indeed,  Madame 
Curie  is  the  Columbus  who  has  discovered  another  con- 
tinent in  science. 

For  what  are  the  possibilities?  In  the  first  place, 
radium  has  had  a  profound  influence  in  modifying  our 
views  regarding  the  structure  of  matter.  Dalton  many 
years  ago  had  postulated  in  his  Atomic  Theory  that 
matter  is  made  up  of  ultimate  and  indivisible  particles 
which  he  called  atoms.  These  atoms  are  active  in 
chemical  changes,  but  even  in  these  changes  the  atoms 
do  not  become  subdivided.  We  still  agree  with  Dalton 
that  chemical  changes  are  brought  about  by  atoms,  and 
that  these  atoms  do  not  subdivide  in  the  course  of  such 
changes,  but  we  can  no  longer  say  that  the  atom  is  the 
smallest  particle.  Far  from  it.  The  later  researches  of 
J.  J.  Thomson  and  others  lead  us  to  the  belief  that  each 
atom  is  a  solar  system  unto  itself,  with  a  positively 
charged  nucleus  for  its  sun,  and  negatively  charged 
electrons,  representing  the  planets,  etc.,  surrounding  it. 

The  radioactivity  of  the  elements  thorium,  uranium 
and  radium  is  due  to  the  breaking  up  of  their  atoms, 
with  the  consequent  enormous  liberation  of  energy. 
Aside  from  these  three,  no  other  element  shows  any 
such  properties.  May  it  not  be  possible,  then,  that  in 
the  future  some  means  will  be  found  to  cause  the  atoms 
of  other  elements  to  disintegrate,  and  thereby  to  liberate 
the  enormous  energy  which  must  be  stored  in  them? 
Will  the  energy  of  the  future  depend  upon  this  dis- 
covery? The  burning  of  coal  is  a  chemical  change,  and 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

therefore  extra-atomic;  will  the  energy  of  the  future  be 
intra-atomic? 

One  other  factor  must  be  touched  upon.  If  a  radium 
salt  is  heated  strongly,  or  dissolved  in  water  and  the 
water  evaporated,  the  residue  seems  to  show  little  radio- 
active power.  If  this  residue  be  kept  for  a  month  it  can 
be  shown  to  have  recovered  all  its  lost  power.  This 
experiment  can  be  repeated  indefinitely. 

If  now  the  experiment  is  conducted  a  little  more  care- 
fully, it  can  be  shown  that  the  initial  loss  of  radioactivity 
is  due  to  the  escape  of  a  gas  which  evolves  the  rays,  in 
quality  and  quantity,  that  the  residue  has  lost.  This 
gas  or  "  emanation  "  was  carefully  examined  by  Ram- 
say and  shown  to  be  a  new  element  belonging  to  the 
inert  gases  of  the  atmosphere,  to  which  the  name  of 
niton  was  given  (see  Ramsay). 

The  further  interesting  fact  was  brought  out  that  on 
standing,  the  "  emanation  "  gradually  loses  its  radio- 
active power,  and  its  rate  of  loss  is  strictly  proportional 
to  the  rate  of  gain  of  radioactive  power  in  the  solid 
radium  residue ! 

The  transmutation  of  one  element  into  another — the 
dream  of  the  alchemists  when  they  wanted  to  transmute 
the  base  metals  into  gold — is  an  established  fact  to-day. 
Radium,  we  know,  breaks  up  into  two  other  elements, 
niton  and  helium ;  the  niton  breaks  up  still  further  into  a 
simpler  element,  and  also  gives  off  an  atom  of  helium.1 

1  Recently  (June,  1919)  Rutherford  has  performed  some  experi- 
ments which  lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  when  the  element 
nitrogen  is  bombarded  with  a-particles  "the  atoms  arising  from  the 
collision  .  .  .  are  not  nitrogen  atoms,  but  probably  charged  atoms 
of  hydrogen  [another  element]  . . ."  The  importance  to  be  attached 
to  this  observation  is  that  for  the  first  time  since  the  discovery  of 
radioactivity,  a  method  has  been  devised  by  which  an  element  may 
be  deliberately  converted  into  another  element.  Hitherto  the  ob- 
served cases  of  transmutation — such  as  disintegration  of  radium  cited 
above — have  been  those  over  which  man  has  so  far  had  no  control. 

* 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

The  process  has  been  traced  experimentally  through 
quite  a  number  of  stages,  but  the  peculiar  feature  of  this 
disintegration  process  is  that  at  each  step  an  atom  of 
helium  is  set  free.  Why  just  helium?  This  is  one  of 
several  puzzles  that  awaits  solution. 

Coming  to  more  immediate  and  practical  considera- 
tions, the  application  of  radium  in  the  treatment  of  a 
number  of  diseases,  particularly  those  due  to  growths, 
such  as  cancer,  has  come  to  the  foreground.  Definite 
cures  have  not  yet  been  established,  but  many  well- 
endowed  establishments,  such  as  the  Crocker  Research 
Institute  of  New  York,  and  the  Radium  Institute  in 
Paris,  are  devoting  much  time  and  skill  to  experimental 
conditions. 

Such  then  is  this  fascinating  study  which  has  led  us 
on  our  journey  from  the  minutest  particles  which  the 
eye  can  see  (minute  suspensions)  to  particles  which  the 
eye  can  see  only  with  the  help  of  the  most  powerful 
ultra-miscroscope  (colloids),  and  then  on  to  molecules 
which  are  formed  when  a  substance  like  sugar  is  dis- 
solved in  water,  and  which  never  have  been  seen  by 
mortal  eye,  and  still  further  to  the  atoms  formed  when 
molecules  break  up,  and  yet  still  further  to  the  electrons 
which  result  from  the  breaking  up  of  atoms,  and  which 
in  size  are  one  two-thousandth  that  of  the  lightest  atom 
known.  If  astronomy  sees  the  infinitely  big  in  such 
distances  as  those  from  the  earth  to  the  nearest  fixed  star, 
chemistry  and  physics  approach  the  infinitely  small  in 
comparing  the  size  of  man  with  that  of  the  electron. 

Madame  Curie's  pioneer  work  on  radium  lasted  from 
1898  to  1902 — some  four  years.  In  1903  the  results  of 
her  work  were  presented  to  the  Paris  faculty  in  the  form 
of  a  thesis  for  the  doctor  of  science  degree.  The  title 
page  reads,  These  Presentee  a  la  Faculte  des  Sciences 

167 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

de  Paris  pour  obtenir  le  grade  de  Docteur  es  Sciences 
physiques. 

This  thesis,  unlike  Arrhenius's,  was  received  with 
acclamation.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  hard  to  seek. 
Arrhenius  proposed  a  novel  theory  which  very  few  were 
prepared  to  understand.  Madame  Curie,  on  the  other 
hand,  presented  the  results  of  experiments  on  a  subject 
which  was  engaging  the  attention  of  some  of  the  best 
minds  in  Europe.  The  world  was  prepared  for  it; 
the  world  was  not  prepared  for  the  theory  of  electrolytic 
dissociation. 

In  the  history  of  doctor's  dissertations  Madame 
Curie's  easily  takes  first  place  for  importance  of  contri- 
bution, with  Arrhenius's  as  a  close  second;  many  of  the 
others — including  even  van't  Hoff's  and  Ramsay's — have 
unnecessarily  taxed  the  shelf  capacity  of  our  libraries. 

With  a  bound  Mme.  Curie  leaped  from  complete  ob- 
scurity to  the  center  of  the  world's  stage.  Unlike  most 
scientific  theories  or  discoveries,  radium  lent  itself  freely 
to  sensational  newspaper  "write-ups,"  so  that  this  modest 
little  woman  was  discussed  in  parallel  columns  with  the 
prominent  politician  and  the  stage  beauty.  Since 
natural  repugnance  for  the  limelight  made  it  impossible 
for  reporters  to  get  interviews,  the  imagination  came  into 
free  play,  and  a  halo  of  romance  and  mystery  was  thrown 
over  her.  In  the  middle  ages  she  might  have  been  a 
sorceress;  now  she  was  a  wizard  in  science. 

In  the  same  year — that  is,  1903 — Madame  Curie  and 
her  husband  came  over  to  London  at  the  express  invita- 
tion of  Lord  Kelvin,  and  Monsieur  Curie  delivered  an 
address  on  radium  at  the  Royal  Institution.  The  Curies 
were  presented  with  the  Davy  Medal  of  the  Royal  Society. 

How  little  known  the  Curies  were  until  about  1903 
is  shown  by  the  following  account,  due  to  Mrs.  Hertha 
Ayrton,  herself  a  distinguished  English  physicist:  "I 

168 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

was  chatting  in  the  laboratory  [in  London]  one  day 
about  the  year  1900,  when  a  stranger  entered,  a  Mon- 
sieur Becquerel,  whom  I  had  known  previously,  and  he 
announced  that  he  had  with  him  a  new  element,  *  ra- 
dium.' He  produced  a  little  packet  containing  a  sub- 
stance which  he  said  was  radium  bromide.  He  sub- 
jected the  substance  to  a  chemical  test  for  our  informa- 
tion. Someone  asked  him  who  discovered  it.  He 
replied,  '  Madame  Curie  of  Paris.'  This  was  the  first 
time  I  had  heard  of  Madame  Curie." 

Within  the  next  few  months  the  Nobel  Prize,  the 
highest  mark  of  distinction  that  can  come  to  any  scientist, 
was  divided  between  the  Curies  and  Becquerel. 

In  the  following  year  Madame  Curie  was  appointed 
Chef  de  Travaux,  or  chief  of  the  laboratory,  in  the 
department  at  the  Sorbonne  that  was  especially  created 
for  her  husband. 

For  two  more  years  were  M.  and  Mme.  Curie  to  live 
together,  loving  and  working,  and  living  as  happily  as 
any  man  and  woman  ever  have  lived.  Then  one  day, 
early  in  1906,  after  having  lunched  and  chatted  with  his 
intimate  friend,  Professor  Perrin,  Pierre  Curie  left  him 
and  crossed  the  Rue  Dauphine  in  Paris  "  whilst  that 
thoroughfare  was,  apparently,  crowded  with  vehicles." 
He  was  knocked  over  by  one  of  these  vehicles  and 
instantly  killed. 

This  terrible  accident  well  nigh  resulted  in  Madame 
Curie's  death.  For  months  her  state  was  such  that  her 
friends  gave  up  all  hop'e  of  any  recovery.  Slowly  she 
found  herself  again.  Her  two  children  and  her  sci- 
ence had  saved  her,  and  to  these  she  consecrated  her  life. 

Langevin,  their  friend,  has  this  to  say  of  M.  and  Mme. 
Curie's  marriage :  "  Cette  epoque  marque  un  change- 
ment  profond  dans  son  [Pierre  Curie's]  existence  par 
son  mariage  avee  Mme.  Marie  Sklodowska.  .  .  .  II  est 

169 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

difficile,  en  effet,  d'imaginer  une  union  plus  intime  que 
celle,  plus  etroite  chaque  jour,  ou  ils  eurent  tous  deux 
la  joie  de  vivre  onze  ans.  Avec  la  clarte  de  son  esprit 
sincere,  Curie  avait  seriti  ne  pouvoir  realiser  entiere- 
ment  sa  vie  que  grace  a  une  femme  qui  fut  en  meme 
temps  sa  collaboratrice.  Ce  serait  une  belle  chose  a 
laquelle  je  n'ose  croire,  ecrivait-il  quand  il  eut  trouve 
celle  qu'il  esperait  de  passer  la  vie  Tun  pres  de  Pautre 
hypnotises  dans  nos  reves." 

Henri  Poincare,  as  president  of  the  Academie  des 
Sciences,  delivered  an  address  on  Pierre  Curie's  life  and 
work  in  which  the  following  reference  was  made  to  the 
widow:  "  Dans  le  deuil  ou  nous  sommes  tous  plonges, 
notre  pensee  va  a  cette  femme  admirable  qui  ne  fut  pas 
seulement  pour  lui  une  compagne  devouee,  mais  une 
precieuse  collaboratrice." 

Madame  Curie's  work  on  radium  has  continued  with- 
out a  break.  In  1910  she,  in  conjunction  with  her 
assistant,  Debierne,  succeeded  in  isolating  and  deter- 
mining the  properties  of  the  metal  itself,  and  radium 
in  the  chemical  sense  was  shown  to  have  properties 
resembling  closely  those  of  calcium.  In  the  same  year 
she  published  her  Traite  de  Radioactivity  which  covers 
over  a  thousand  pages,  and  is  the  most  exhaustive  and 
authoritative  work  on  radium  that  has  thus  far  been 
published.  With  no  little  pride  could  Mme.  Curie, say 
in  the  preface !  "  La  Radioactivite  constitue  aujourd'hui 
une  branche  importante  et  independante  des  sciences 
physico-chimiques."  And  this  "  important  and  inde- 
pendent branch  of  physical  chemistry  "  was  originated 
and  developed  within  the  space  of  fourteen  years ! 

In  1911  Madame  Curie  was  again  the  recipient  of 
the  Nobel  Prize,  the  prize  for  literature  going  to  Maeter- 
linck. So  far  Madame  Curie  is  the  only  individual  who 
has  received  the  award  more  than  once;  this  in  itself 

170 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

speaks  volumes  as  to  her  standing  in  the  eyes  of  her 
fellow-scientists.  Prof.  E.  W.  Dahlgren,  the  president 
of  the  Swedish  Royal  Academy,  had  this  to  say  in  pre- 
senting Mme.  Curie  for  the  award:  "This  year  the 
Academy  has  decided  to  award  you  the  prize  for  chem- 
istry for  the  eminent  services  you  have  rendered  the 
science  by  your  discovery  of  radium  and  polonium,  and 
by  your  study  of  the  properties  of  radium  and  its  isola- 
tion in  the  metallic  state.  .  .  .  Since  the  inception  of 
the  Nobel  Prize  twelve  years  ago  it  is  the  first  time  that 
this  distinction  has  been  accorded  to  a  laureate  who  has 
already  once  received  the  prize.  I  want  you  to  see, 
Madame,  by  this  circumstance  a  proof  of  the  importance 
which  our  Academy  attaches  to  your  discoveries.  .  .  ." 
In  this  same  year  the  French  Institute  dishonored 
itself  by  refusing  to  elect  Madame  Curie  to  member- 
ship. To  the  honor  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  which 
is  one  of  the  five  academies  of  the  French  Institute,  the 
representatives  of  this  body  placed  Mme.  Curie  at  the 
head  of  their  list  of  final  candidates.  This  gave  rise  to  a 
lively  discussion  on  the  eligibility  of  women  for  member- 
ship when  Mme.  Curie's  name  was  brought  before  the 
one  hundred  and  fifty  Academicians  at  the  quarterly 
meeting  of  the  five  academies.  The  motion  to  admit 
women  was  finally  rejected  by  90  to  52,  and  this  august 
body  went  on  record  to  the  effect  that  whilst  they  did 
not  wish  to  dictate  to  the  separate  academies,  there  was 
"  an  immutable  tradition  against  the  election  of  women, 
which  it  seemed  eminently  wise  to  respect."  Science 
in  its  search  for  truth  has  thrown  tradition  overboard  on 
innumerable  occasions.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  defy  the 
"  immutable  tradition  "  of  man's  origin,  and  another 
to  deny  civil  rights  to  his  own  flesh  because  of  this  same 
"  immutable  tradition."  Such  logic  diplomatists  might 
envy,  and  some  newspapers  applaud,  but  it  can  hardly 
13  171 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

stand  the  test  of  that  scientific  criticism  which  these 
Academicians  apply  with  such  telling  effect  to  their 
scientific  work. 

Shortly  before  the  outbreak  of  the  world  war  the  Univer- 
sity of  Paris  undertook  the  creation  of  a  radium  institute 
for  research  in  radioactivity.  This  has  since  been  com- 
pleted and  Madame  Curie  has  been  placed  at  its  head. 
The  Institute  is  divided  into  two  departments,  the  Curie 
Laboratory,  devoted  to  research  in  the  physics  and 
chemistry  of  the  radioactive  elements,  and  the  Pasteur 
Laboratory,  devoted  to  the  application  of  radioactive  sub- 
stances to  medicine.  The  street  has  been  appropriately 
renamed  the  "Rue  Pierre  Curie."  Even  during  the 
war  this  institute  was  the  headquarters  for  all  work  in 
radiology  at  the  French  military  hospitals,  supplying  not 
only  the  necessary  materials,  but  training  apprentices 
in  the  methods  of  application.  The  French  government 
placed  Mme.  Curie  in  absolute  charge  of  all  such  work. 

Just  now  Mme.  Curie  is  supervising  the  construction 
of  a  radium  institute  in  her  native  city  of  Warsaw.  If 
Paris  is  her  father  Warsaw  is  her  mother. 

Even  after  her  marriage  Madame  Curie's  struggles 
were  not  ended.  As  late  as  1904  the  joint  income  of 
the  Curies  was  such  as  to  make  the  simplest  life  not 
particularly  easy.  At  that  time,  we  are  told,  the  "  dis- 
mal Boulevard  Kellerman  "  was  not  the  safest  of  neigh- 
borhoods, and  the  Curies,  who  lived  there,  were  in  a 
section  of  Paris  "inhabited  by  a  class  of  Russian 
students  of  both  sexes,  who  are  never  favored  with 
invitations  to  their  embassy."  The  furniture  in  the 
modest  little  house  was  of  the  simplest,  with  all  ideas  of 
the  aesthetic  sacrificed  for  the  useful.  Later,  when 
circumstances  improved,  the  Curies  acquired  a  small 
estate  at  Fontenay-aux-Roses,  near  Paris,  and  here 

172 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

Mme.  Curie,  together  with  her  two  children  and  old  Dr. 
Curie  (her  late  husband's  father)  lives. 

"  In  outward  appearance,"  writes  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
"  she  is  tall,  just  above  middle  height,  broad  shouldered 
and  graceful.  Her  brow  is  splendid;  her  lovely  grey 
eyes  full  of  sadness.  Her  mass  of  fair  hair  is  wavy, 
like  Paderewski's  hair.  There  is  a  suggestion  of  square- 
ness in  her  face,  very  firm  mouth  and  chin,  but  there  is 
gentleness  withal.  Her  voice  is  musical,  and  to  her 
intimate  friends  she  can  sometimes  be  persuaded  to 
recite  poetry,  which  she  does,  using  the  tones  of  her 
voice  with  charming  inflections.  ...  In  manner  she  is 
perfectly  simple  and  unaffected.  Like  so  many  Polish 
women,  she  has  a  magnetic  personality  and  an  intense 
love  of  beauty,  for  beauty  in  nature  and  art.  Seeing 
her  one  May  morning  in  the  classic  hall  of  the  Sorbonne, 
with  her  long  trailing  diaphanous  draperies,  she  sug- 
gested strongly  to  me  a  similarity  to  the  old  Greek 
statue  of  Demetes,  the  goddess  whose  face  suggests 
strength  and  sadness.  I  would  that  Rodin  thought  so 
too  and  gave  expression  to  that  thought." 

This  description  probably  reflects  a  somewhat  over- 
abundant enthusiasm.  At  any  rate,  years  of  grief  and 
ill-health  have  left  their  impress  upon  Mme.  Curie.  A 
representative  of  the  Figaro  speaks  with  something 
nearer  the  truth  when  he  describes  her  as  "  like  some- 
thing washed  out,  the  color  gone,  the  fire  extinguished. 
.  .  .  One  is  tempted  to  say  her  eyes  are  grey  until  a 
closer  inspection  brings  out  a  trace  of  blue ;  but  in  the 
end  the  hue  of  these  frigid  orbs  relapses  into  a  sheer 
neutrality." 

Her  complexion,  we  are  told,  is  neither  pale,  nor 
red,  nor  sallow,  but  faded ;  her  hair  is  neither  auburn, 
nor  brown,  nor  grey,  but  neutral.  The  prominence  of 
the  cheek  bones  bespeaks  Polish  origin.  "  Madame 

173 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Curie  looks  like  a  person  in  need  of  the  sun,  a  person 
who  would  benefit  from  more  fresh  air." 

Her  voice  is  low  and  free  from  theatricality.  Her 
manner  is  decidedly  cold ;  in  fact  her  coldness  "  suggests 
the  passionless  spirit  of  pure  science  " — a  view  hardly 
supported  by  the  few  who  are  her  intimates. 

As  a  lecturer  Mme.  Curie  is  unsurpassed  in  lucidity 
of  expression,  and  from  the  tricks  of  political  oratory  she 
is  quite  free.  Her  voice  is  hardly  ever  raised  beyond  the 
regulated  academic  level,  and  her  arms,  which  are  long, 
slender  and  graceful,  are  rarely  called  into  play,  even 
when  emphasis  is  sought.  Her  accent  betrays  her 
Polish  origin,  but  she  expresses  every  idea  in  perfectly 
idiomatic  French. 

In  1907,  one  year  after  her  husband's  tragic  death, 
and  after  she  had  succeeded  to  the  chair  which  her 
husband  had  held  at  the  Sorbonne,  Mme.  Curie  delivered 
a  discourse  on  polonium,  which  is  still  remembered  even 
in  fashionable  Paris  circles  of  to-day.  lord  Kelvin,  Sir 
William  Ramsay  and  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  made  a  special 
trip  from  London  to  hear  this  great  little  woman.  Even 
the  unfortunate  King  Carlos  of  Portugal  was  attracted. 
President  and  Mrs.  Fallieres  headed  a  crowd  which  was 
representative  of  the  wealth,  fashion  and  cosmopolitan- 
ism of  the  gay  capital  of  France.  "  On  the  stroke  of  three 
an  insignificant  little  black-robed  woman1  stepped  in,  and 
the  vast  and  brilliant  throng  rose  with  a  thrill  of  homage 
and  respect.  The  next  moment  a  roar  of  applause  burst 
forth.  The  timid  little  figure  was  visibly  distressed,  and 
raised  a  trembling  hand  in  mute  appeal.  Then  you  could 
have  heard  a  pin  drop,  and  she  began  to  speak." 

Mme.  Curie  may  be  the  great  scientist,  but  she  has 
many  of  the  traits  of  feminity  and  motherhood  which 

1  Mrs.  Cunningham,  saturated  with  a  reporter's  romance,  de- 
scribes Mme.  Curie  as  "tall,  just  above  middle  height." 

] 


MARIE  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE 

most  men  of  all  ages  have  admired.  Aside  from  her 
work,  her  attention  is  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the 
welfare  of  her  two  daughters,  Irene  and  Eve,  seventeen 
and  thirteen  years  old  respectively.  Irene  cares  little 
for  science,  but  much  for  music  and  the  arts,  but  little 
Eve  is  all  for  laboratory  work.  Already  to-day  she 
assists  her  mother  in  much  the  same  way  that  Madame 
Curie,  years  ago,  assisted  her  father  in  Warsaw. 

When  the  two  children  were  younger  Mme.  Curie 
made  all  their  dresses,  and  washed  and  ironed  the  more 
delicate  pieces  of  lingerie.  In  so  far  as  she  herself  is 
concerned,  Mme.  Curie  gives  little  thought  to  her  own 
appearance.  She  is  excessively  neat,  as  becomes  the 
nature  of  her  work,  but  her  dress  is  of  the  simplest, 
which  changes  not  when  fashion  changes.  The  first 
and  only  time  that "  Madame  "  indulged  in  a  decottetee 
silk  dress  was  when  she  was  invited  to  dinner  by  Presi- 
dent and  Mrs.  Loubet.  Gossip  has  it  that  this  "  fancy  " 
dress  has  serve ' ;  as  useful  a  purpose  as  the  young  lady's 
customary  wedding  gown. 

Mme.  Curie's  sister,  Dr.  Dluska,2  has  charge  of  a 
sanitarium  at  Zakopane,  a  famous  retreat  in  the  Car- 
pathians, and  there,  in  days  gone  by,  Sienkiewicz, 
Paderewski  and  Mme.  Curie  spent  their  summers, 
dreaming  of  the  rebirth  of  a  nation.  Jescza  Polska  nie 
zginela  (Poland  is  not  yet  lost)  runs  the  first  line  of 
Poland's  national  song.  Mme.  Curie  continues  to  spend 
her  summers  at  Zakopana ;  one  of  the  other  two  is  dead ; 
and  the  third  has  just  retired  from  the  presidency  of 

*  Mme.  Curie  also  has  a  brother,  Dr.  Sklodowski,  who  practices 
medicine  in  Warsaw.  Lest  the  reader  be  somewhat  confused,  we 
hasten  to  add  that  "  ski "  is  the  masculine,  and  "  ska  "  the  fem- 
inine ending  in  Polish;  hence  Mile.  Marie  Sklodowska.  The 
rumors  that  the  Sklodowski  family  is  of  Jewish  origin  are  not  true. 

175 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

the  old-new  country  whose  chief  glory  is  that  it  has 
given  birth  to  Marie  Sklodowska  Curie. 

References 

Part  of  the  material  for  this  biography  has  been 
obtained  from  private  sources.  Miss  Cunningham's 
account  (i)  has  good  personal  touches  but  is  quite 
worthless  scientifically.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
articles  by  Emily  Crawford  (2)  and  W.  G.  Fitzgerald  (3). 
Some  sidelights  on  Madame  Curie  are  given  by  Paul 
Langevin  (4)  in  his  account  of  Pierre  Curie.  For  a  lay- 
man desirous  of  an  intelligent  description  of  radium  and 
its  significance,  Soddy's  Matter  and  Energy  (5)  stands 
alone  in  the  English  language.  A  more  technical  ac- 
count may  be  found  in  Rutherford's  article  prepared  for 
the  nth  edition  of  the  Britanica  (6).  The  beginner  in 
inorganic  chemistry  can  hardly  do  better  than  consult 
Smith's  Introduction  (7).  The  more  comprehensive 
works  of  Soddy  (8),  Rutherford  (9),  and  Curie  (10)  are 
the  standard  reference  books. 

1.  Marian  Cunningham:    Madame  Curie  (Sklodowska)  and  the 

Story  of  Radium  (Saint  Catherine  Press,  London). 

2.  Emily  Crawford:  The  Curies  at  Home.    The  World  To-day,  6, 

490  (1904). 

3.  W.  G.  Fitzgerald:   Madame  Curie  and  her  Work.    Harper's 

Bazaar,  42,  233  (1908). 

4.  Paul  Langevin:  Piere  Curie.    La  Revue  du  Mois,  2t  5  (1906). 

5.  F.  Soddy:  Matter  and  Energy  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.). 

6.  Ernest  Rutherford:   Radioactivity  [Encycl.  Britannica,  22,  794 

(1911)]. 

7.  Alexander  Smith:  Introduction  to  Inorganic  Chemistry  (Century 

Co.    1917). 

8.  F.  Soddy:  The  Chemistry  of  the  Radio-Elements  (Longmans, 

Green,  and  Co.    1915). 

9.  Ernest  Rutherford:   Radioactive  Substances  and  their  Radia- 

tions (Cambridge  University  Press.    1913). 

10.  Marie  Curie:    TraitS  de  RadioactivitS  (Gauthier-Villars,  Im- 
primeur-Libraire,  Paris.    1910). 
176 


VICTOR  MEYER 

CTOR  MEYER  belongs  to  the  school  of 
pure  organic  chemists — to  the  period  when 
organic  chemistry  was  in  its  ascendency. 
He  easily  takes  his  place  among  the  fore- 
most pioneers  in  this  phase  of  the  science.  He  began 
work  when  the  superstructure  of  organic  chemistry  had 
yet  to  be  built  up,  and  in  this  building  process  few  can 
claim  the  share  he  can.  When  the  beauty  and  sym- 
metry of  the  building  was  all  but  apparent  Meyer  passed 
away.  The  man  of  forty-nine  (he  had  reached  that  age 
when  he  took  his  own  life),  with  the  rare  mind  that  was 
his,  could  still  have  accomplished  much. 

Meyer  was  born  in  Berlin  on  September  8, 1848.  His 
father,  a  prosperous  Jewish  merchant  and  a  man  of  high 
intelligence,  surrounded  himself  with  the  elite  of  the 
intellectual  element  of  the  city.  The  chemist  Sonnen- 
schein,  then  a  privat-docent  at  the  University;  Bern- 
stein, the  founder  and  editor  of  the  Volkszeitung; 
Franz  Duncker,  Love-Kalbe,  Major  Beitzke  (author  of 
the  "Thirty  Years'  War")»  Schulze-Delitzsch  and 
Berthold  Auerbach  were  frequent  visitors  to  the  house. 
It  was  in  such  an  atmosphere  that  Victor  Meyer  was 
brought  up. 

Together  with  his  brother,  Victor  received  his  earliest 
instruction  from  his  mother.  Later  a  private  tutor  pre- 
pared the  children  for  the  gymnasium,  and  this  Victor 
entered  when  he  was  ten  years  old. 

During  these  early  years  at  the  gymnasium,  Meyer's 
leanings  were  rather  towards  literature  than  science. 
The  drama  especially  had  a  strong  attraction  for  him. 

177 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Indeed,  at  fifteen,  the  boy  had  quite  made  up  his  mind 
to  become  an  actor.  To  his  father's  remonstrances,  who 
watched  these  developments  with  much  perturbation, 
Victor  replied:  "  Never  can  I  become  anything  else — 
never !  I  feel  it.  In  any  other  profession  I  shall  remain 
a  good-for-nothing  the  rest  of  my  life." 

However,  in  the  meantime  the  lad  continued  his 
academic  studies,  and  in  the  spring  of  1865  he  passed 
his  matriculation  examination  (Abiturientenexameri). 
Hoping  against  hope  that  possibly  the  university  at- 
mosphere would  tend  to  direct  Victor's  thoughts  in 
another  direction,  the  family  persuaded  the  youth  to 
proceed  to  Heidelberg,  there  to  attend  some  lectures  in 
the  company  of  his  elder  brother.  What  the  incessant 
arguments  of  the  parents  and  friends  had  failed  to  do, 
the  chemical  lectures  of  one  of  the  professors  easily 
accomplished.  In  Bunsen  the  young  man  encountered 
one  of  those  rare  minds  who  can  see  and  demonstrate 
the  beauty  and  poetry  of  anything  they  happen  to  be 
engaged  in.  From  the  lips  of  Bunsen  chemistry  issued 
forth  as  a  song  to  nature,  and  as  a  song  to  nature  Meyer 
caught  the  refrain. 

Small,  and  quite  childish  in  appearance,  the  seventeen- 
year-old  boy  enrolled  as  a  student  of  the  university. 
During  the  first  semester  he  attended  Hofmann's  lec- 
tures in  Berlin,  so  as  to  be  near  his  parents.  After  that 
he  took  up  his  abode  in  Heidelberg.  Here  he  followed 
Kirchhoff's  lectures  on  physics,  Kopp's  on  theoretical 
chemistry,  Helmholtz's  on  physiology,  Erlenmeyer's 
on  organic  chemistry,  and  Bunsen's  on  general  chem- 
istry— truly  as  illustrious  a  band  of  scholars  as  could  be 
found  anywhere. 

Under  the  same  roof  there  lived  Julius  Bernstein  (the 
son  of  the  family's  old  friend),  who  was  at  that  time  one 
of  Helmholtz's  assistants,  and  who,  as  professor  of 


VICTOR  MEYER 

physiology  at  Halle,  has  since  risen  to  be  one  of  Ger- 
many's great  physiologists.  Bernstein  and  the  Meyers 
fraternized  much  together.  To  this  trio  there  was 
later  added  a  fourth — Paul  du  Bois  Reymond,  then 
privat-docent  in  mathematics. 

Meyer's  work  at  the  university  was  brilliant  in  the 
extreme :  he  headed  the  lists  in  every  course.  In  May, 
1867,  when  but  nineteen  years  old,  he  received  the 
doctor's  degree  summa  cum  laude — which  is  given  on 
but  rare  occasions.  Bunsen  immediately  appointed  him 
to  an  assistantship,  and  here  he  chiefly  busied  himself 
with  analyses  of  various  spring  waters  by  methods  initi- 
ated or  improved  by  Bunsen  and  his  pupils. 

In  addition  to  his  work  at  the  laboratory,  Meyer  was 
much  in  demand  as  a  coach  for  the  doctor's  examination. 
Yet  he  found  tune  to  cultivate  his  artistic  tastes  in  many 
ways.  From  his  earliest  days  he  played  the  violin; 
now  he  began  to  take  lessons  in  piano  playing.  The 
classics  he  assiduously  cultivated,  and  never  missed  an 
opportunity  of  attending  the  more  notable  performances 
at  Mannheim.  His  week  ends  were  usually  spent 
wandering  near  Heidelberg.  Julius  Bernstein,  who 
often  accompanied  him  on  these  excursions,  tells  of  a 
pretty  little  incident  that  occurred  to  them  on  one  occa- 
sion: /"  Towards  evening,  tired  and  weary  after  a  day's 
tramping,  we  entered  a  wine  cellar,  and  there  sat  down 
at  one  of  the  tables.  A  young  peasant  who  happened  to 
come  in  came  up  to  us  and  asked  permission  to  sit  at 
our  table.  As  we  were  chatting  with  him  he  fixed  his 
eyes  on  Victor,  stared  at  him  for  some  time,  and  then 
exclaimed, '  See  here,  never  in  my  lif  e  have  I  seen  such 
a  handsome  fellow  as  you  are.'  Just  quite  in  this  way 
Victor  was  hardly  ever  addressed  again,  but  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  ladies  were  all  more  or  less  in  love  with 

him." 

179 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

In  the  late  sixties  Baeyer  had  already  established  a 
reputation  such  as  to  attract  students  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  it  was  to  Baeyer's  laboratory  in  Berlin 
(at  the  Gewerbeakademie)  that  Meyer  proceeded  in 
1868.  And  what  a  busy  and  profitable  place  this  proved 
to  be!  Baeyer  himself  had  already  begun  his  classic 
researches  on  indigo  blue.  Graebe  and  Liebermann  had 
just  produced  alizarin  artificially — the  first  instance  of 
the  synthesis  of  a  plant-coloring  matter.  S.  Marasse, 
B.  Jaffe,  E.  Ludwig  and  W.  A.  van  Dorp  were  all  helping 
to  make  the  laboratory  famous. 

I  The  young  Meyer  made  more  than  a  favorable  im- 
pression, according  to  Liebermann's  testimony:  "  Mey- 
er's remarkable  ability  could  hardly  pass  unnoticed. 
His  congenial  personality  added  but  to  the  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held.  He  seemed  to  have  read  every- 
thing, and  his  memory  was  simply  phenomenal.  .  .  . 
Many  obscure  references  that  at  that  time  were  rather 
difficult  to  locate  could  easily  be  traced  by  consulting 
Meyer.  He  could  usually  tell  you  not  merely  the  volume 
but  the  very  page." 

During  the  three  years  that  Meyer  remained  here 
he  published  several  important  papers,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  his  contributions  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  camphor,  of  chloral  hydrate  and  of  the  benzene 
ring. 

Towards  the  end  of  1870,  at  Baeyer's  recommenda- 
tion, Meyer  was  appointed  professor  extraordinary  at 
the  Stuttgart  Polytechnik,  of  the  chemical  laboratory  of 
which  H.  v.  Fehling  was  the  director.  Here  the  twenty- 
three-year-old  professor,  who  had  never  been  privat- 
docent,  was  put  in  charge  of  the  organic  chemistry 
department. 

Stuttgart  proved  an  incentive  to  renewed  activity. 
Here  he  announced  his  discovery  of  the  nitro  compounds 

180 


VICTOR  MEYER 

of  the  aliphatic  series— his  first  really  lasting  contri- 
bution to  the  advancement  of  the  science. 

Though  little  burdened  with  routine  at  Stuttgart, 
Meyer  was  sorely  tempted  to  accept  a  first  assistantship 
at  the  University  of  Strassburg,  offered  him  by  Baeyer, 
who  was  about  to  take  charge  of  the  chemical  institute 
there.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was  the  opportunity  of 
once  again  coming  in  contact  with  the  great  master 
mind;  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  to  be  put  in  charge  of 
the  analytical  department,  and  this  meant  running 
around  the  laboratory  and  attending  to  the  wants  of  the 
students  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  In  Stuttgart  he 
therefore  remained— till  one  day  President  Kappeler, 
of  the  Zurich  Polytechnik,  chanced  to  walk  into  his 
lecture-room.  Kappeler  was  so  impressed  with  the 
young  man's  ability  that  he  immediately  offered  Meyer 
the  vacant  professorship  of  chemistry  at  Zurich.  And 
so  at  twenty-four  Victor  became  a  full-fledged  professor 
ordinarius! 

This  appointment  Meyer  celebrated  in  a  highly  appro- 
priate way:  he  became  engaged  to  the  companion  of 
his  youth,  Fraulein  Hedwig  Davidson. 

The  Zurich  laboratory  was  divided  into  two  parts,  the 
analytical  and  the  technical,  and  of  the  former  Meyer 
had  charge.  His  predecessor  was  Wislecenus,  who  had 
accepted  a  call  to  Leipzig.  Bolley  had  control  of  the 
technicological  side.  With  Bolley,  as  well  as  with 
Eduard  Schar,  the  professor  of  pharmacy,  and  Ernst 
Schulze,  the  professor  of  agricultural  chemistry,  the 
newly-appointed  instructor  fraternized  much.  The  re- 
searches that  had  been  started  at  Stuttgart  were  now 
renewed  with  the  utmost  vigor.  In  the  beginning  all  did 
not  go  well.  A  mercury  compound  of  nitromethane 
which  Rilliet,  his  private  assistant,  had  prepared,  ex- 
ploded, with  serious  injury  to  Rilliet.  Wurster  was 

181 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

brought  from  Stuttgart  to  replace  him,  and  Meyer 
found  him  a  competent  substitute.  "  I  have  given  him 
rooms  in  the  laboratory,"  he  writes;  "this  is  of  the 
utmost  importance,  as  thereby  he  can  do  twice  as  much 
work.  He  is  very  conscientious — so  much  so,  that  I 
think  I  shall  send  for  another  one  of  my  Stuttgart 
pupils." 

Satisfied  as  he  was  with  the  assistants  he  imported, 
Meyer  was  far  from  satisfied  with  the  assistants  he  found, 
or  with  the  cool  reception  accorded  him  by  the  students. 
In  Stuttgart  he  was  the  idol  of  his  pupils;  here  the  men 
had  little  sympathy  with  one  so  much  taken  up  with  the 
theoretical  aspect  of  the  subject.  || "  One  single  publi- 
cation on  some  cheese  preparation  makes  one  far  more 
celebrated  in  Switzerland  than  one  thousand  discoveries 
in  the  field  of  pure  organic  chemistry,"  he  writes  bitterly. 
But  the  day  was  to  come  when  the  Swiss  were  to  vener- 
ate him,  and  the  day  was  also  to  come  when  Meyer  would 
love  his  Zurich  students  and  the  Zurich  atmosphere. 

From  the  very  first  he  had  his  hands  full.  "I  am 
very  busy,"  he  writes,  "  as  you  can  conclude  from  the 
following:  I  devote  eight  hours  to  lectures  in  organic 
chemistry,  two  to  lectures  on  analytical  chemistry,  two 
to  metallurgy  (in  place  of  Kopp,  who  is  in  Vienna),  and 
besides  this  I  have  to  superintend  Kopp's  as  well  as  my 
own  laboratory."  But  this  did  not  prevent  him  from 
pursuing  his  research  work.  In  the  month  of  July  he 
records  the  synthesis  of  jiphejiyl-me thane  from  benzoyl 
alcohol  and  benzene.  This  compound,  wEich  melts  at 
26°  C.,  Meyer  placed  on  his  writing  table,  and  used  it 
in  place  of  a  thermometer.  At  ten  in  the  morning,  if 
the  substance  was  in  a  molten  state,  the  Herr  Professor 
would  announce  that  weather  conditions  made  it  im- 
practicable to  pursue  any  work  in  the  laboratory;  and 
then  professor  and  students  would  go  bathing.  On  one 

182 


V.  Meyer's  apparatus  for  determining  the  vapor  density,  a  factor  of  extreme 

importance  in  deducing  the  constitution  of  compounds,    [Reproduced 

from  the  Berichte  der  deutschen  chsmischen  Gesettschaft.] 


VICTOR  MEYER 

of  these  occasions  Meyer  rescued  one  of  his  assistants, 
Michler,  from  drowning. 

But  recreation  played  but  a  small  part  in  the  Zurich 
life.  Apart  from  the  regular  students  there  were  (in 
1876)  twelve  men  working  for  their  doctorate,  in  addi- 
tion to  Meyer's  four  assistants,  who  had  already  passed 
that  stage,  but  who  were  busier  than  any  of  the  candi- 
dates creating  new  compounds.  The  nitro  compounds  of 
the  aliphatic  series,  the  first  piece  of  classical  research 
with  which  the  name  of  Meyer  is  associated,  were  en- 
gaging the  attention  of  the  youthful  professor;  but  even 
at  that  time  he  made  excursions  into  the  realm  of  indigo 
chemistry  (the  artificial  production  of  which  he  hoped  to 
solve  in  one  week!)  and  discussed  van't  HofFs  views 
on  optical  activity  and  the  asymmetry  of  the  carbon  atom. 

With  Baeyer,  the  great  master,  and  with  Graebe  and 
Liebermann,  Meyer  carried  on  a  brisk  correspondence, 
the  letters  dealing  chiefly  with  views  on  current  scientific 
topics.  In  1876  his  elder  brother  obtained  a  position 
near  Zurich  and  Victor's  delight  knew  no  bounds. 
Gustav  Cohn,  the  economist,  and  Eduard  Hitzig,  the 
psychiatrist,  were  about  this  time  appointed  professors 
at  the  University.  Graebe  himself,  who  had  been  in 
delicate  health,  resigned  from  his  Konigsberg  position 
and  came  to  Zurich  to  join  the  happy  crowd.  But  for  a 
rather  unpleasant  polemic  with  Ladenburg  (Meyer  later 
dubbed  this  episode  the  Ladenburg-Fieber)  which 
tended  to  undermine  Meyer's  delicate  constitution, 
there  was  nothing  at  this  time  to  mar  the  even  tenor 
of  the  young  man's  life.  He  had  just  begun  his  second 
classical  work :  his  method  of  determining  vapor  density. 
We  find  him  writing  to  Baeyer  asking  for  some  methyl 
anthracene,  a  substance  which  by  analysis  can  hardly 
be  differentiated  from  ordinary  anthracene,  but  which 
can  easily  be  identified  by  the  vapor  density  method. 

183 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

In  the  spring  of  1876  Meyer  received  a  call  from  the 
Konigsberg  authorities,  but  by  this  time  he  had  come  to 
like  Zurich  and  was  loath  to  leave  it.  As  an  inducement 
to  remain,  and  in  appreciation  of  his  services,  Kappeler 
had  Meyer's  salary  increased  by  1500  francs  a  year. 
Not  so  very  long  after  this  a  vacancy  occurred  in  Er- 
langen.  The  rumor  had  gone  forth  that  Meyer  would  be 
offered  the  position,  and  this  came  to  the  ears  of  the 
president.  Without  waiting  to  hear  from  Meyer,  Kap- 
peler took  the  initiative  by  informing  him  that  the  wish 
of  the  governing  body  to  have  him  remain  in  Zurich  was 
so  earnest  that  they  were  willing  to  make  his  position 
tenable  for  life,  provided  he  would  decide  to  stay  (Meyer 
held  it  on  a  ten-year  contract),  and  that  they  would 
further  increase  his  salary  by  1000  francs.  "  As  I  had 
no  desire  to  go  to  Erlangen,"  Meyer  writes  to  Baeyer, 
"  I  gave  him  the  assurance  with  pleasure." 

The  miscarriage  of  one  of  his  experiments  before  the 
student  class  made  him  hit  upon  what  is  conceded  to  be 
his  most  brilliant  discovery — thiophene.  "The  analy- 
ses," he  writes  to  Baeyer,  "  have  shown  the  compound 
to  have  the  formula  C4H4S.  It  boils  at  84°  C.  How 
should  it  be  named?  Kindly  help  me.  I  do  not  like 
such  a  name  as  thiofurfuran.  .  .  .  How  about  indogen? 
...  or  indophenin?  or  thiochrom,  krytan,  kryptophan? 
I  would  like  to  get  hold  of  a  name  that  would  please 
you,  too.  Possibly  the  Frau  Professor  would  like  to 
take  part  in  this."  Thiophene  was  the  name  finally 
selected,  and  this  became  the  mother  substance  of  a 
group  of  compounds  almost  as  extensive  as  benzene  it 
self,  which  the  genius  of  Meyer  introduced  into  organic 
chemistry. 

In  January,  1884,  in  the  company  of  Professor  Blunt- 
schli,  the  architect,  Meyer  undertook  a  journey  through 
Austria-Hungary,  with  the  view  to  examining  the  various 

184 


VICTOR  MEYER 

chemical  laboratories  there.  Their  journey  lay  over 
Munich,  and  here  the  first  stop  was  made.  "  We  have 
already  been  in  Munich  and  Graetz,"  he  writes  "  and 
in  both  places  we  had  a  most  delightful  tune.  In 
Munich  I  spent  a  lovely  time  with  Baeyer,  Otto  Fischer 
and  Konig,  and  one  delightful  musical  afternoon  with 
the  Heyses."  (Here  he  refers  to  Heyse,  the  poet  and 
novelist.)  Again:  "  The  new  buildings  in  Vienna  defy 
description.  The  Parliament,  the  Guildhall,  the  Uni- 
versity and  the  Hofburg  Theatre  constitute  a  section 
beside  which  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  in  Paris  fades 
into  insignificance.  In  addition,  they  have  the  recently- 
constructed  museums  by  Semper,  which  are  the  finest 
examples  of  Renaissance  architecture.  I  witnessed  a 
performance  of  the  Walkure  and  the  second  part  of 
Faust.  I  also  saw  my  old  flame,  the  actress  Lucca. 
You  can  imagine  how  happy  I  was  to  see  her  again  after 
thirteen  years  of  absence.  She  is  as  beautiful  as  ever, 
time  not  seeming  to  have  altered  her." 

In  July,  1884,  Hubner,  the  Gottingen  professor,  died. 
Meyer's  friend  Klein,  who  informed  him  of  this,  also 
told  him  that  he  was  a  likely  candidate.  The  thought  of 
having  to  leave  Zurich  was  quite  unbearable.  What  had 
he  not  accomplished  during  these  thirteen  never-to-be 
forgotten  years!  But,  then,  to  step  into  the  world- 
famed  Gottingen  school — that  had  also  to  be  considered. 

Meyer  had  not  yet  reached  his  thirty-sixth  year.  He 
had  to  regard  the  call  to  Wohler's  old  establishment  as 
the  highest  compliment  that  could  be  paid  to  him. 
Indeed,  the  compliment  proved  a  higher  one  than  even 
he  expected,  for  none  others  were  even  to  be  considered. 

During  the  last  days  of  the  year  1889  Meyer  proceeded 

to  Bonn  to  undergo  an  energetic  cure :  a  sort  of  massage 

and  electrical  treatment  combined.    He  writes:   "For 

fourteen  days  I  lived  in  the  strictest  incognito,  going 

14  185 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

under  the  name  of  Professor  Meyer,  of  Berlin.  Since 
a  week  ago  I  have  given  this  up  and  am  now  with  Wallach 
and  Kekule  daily.  To  see  Kekule  once  again  and  to 
speak  to  him  does  one's  heart  good.  You  will  not  con- 
sider me  vain  when  I  tell  you  that  it  was  delightful  to 
hear  him  say  to  me  that  he  considered  me  the  foremost 
among  the  chemists  of  the  younger  generation.  Wallach 
is  a  splendid  type  of  fellow.  He  visits  me  daily.  He 
has  no  easy  life  of  it.  What  a  pity  that  he  cannot  go  to 
Zurich!  I  suppose  you  have  heard  that  Hantzsch  has 
been  nominated  to  succeed  me.  I  am  glad  to  see  that 
both  Kekule  and  Wallach  approve  Kappeler's  choice. 
Wallach  has  completed  a  wonderful  piece  of  work  on  the 
terpenes  which  must  surely  become  epoch-making." 

Meyer  left  Bonn  in  indifferent  health  and  after  a 
short  stay  hi  Zurich  proceeded  to  the  Riviera  with  his 
parents.  Here  he  felt  himself  slightly  better,  but  not 
very  much  so.  |"  Italy  and  the  Riviera  are  very  nice, 
but  only  for  the  one  who  is  in  a  position  to  enjoy  her 
beauties,"  he  writes.  "  In  my  case,  where  I  dare  not 
go  beyond  one-half  hour's  distance  from  the  house,  the 
mountains  call  in  vain." 

In  this  condition  Meyer  proceeded  to  Gottingen.  He 
was  comforted  to  a  large  extent  in  that  his  excellent 
assistant,  Sandmeyer,  accompanied  him  for  the  summer 
semester.  Sandmeyer,  one  of  Meyer's  "  discoveries," 
is  to-day  known  wherever  chemistry  flourishes.  He 
started  as  a  mechanic  in  Meyer's  laboratory,  but  soon 
gave  this  up  to  devote  all  his  time  to  chemistry. 

Meyer  left  Zurich  without  being  able  to  take  leave  of 
his  students,  but  some  months  later  he  returned  to 
attend  the  seventieth  birthday  of  Kappeler.  At  the 
Kommers,  which  was  given  in  the  old  man's  honor, 
Meyer  was  among  the  speakers.  /  Professor  Gold- 
schmidt  thus  describes  the  scene :  '£>!  see  him  (Meyer) 

186 


VICTOR  MEYER 

even  now  before  me  as  he  spoke  to  the  students  at  the 
Kommers  in  the  evening.  The  'Zuricher  Polytech- 
nikers '  have,  as  a  rule,  but  little  opportunity  of  knowing 
the  professors  outside  their  special  faculty,  and  have 
therefore  but  little  interest  in  those  who  are  not  their 
own  teachers.  As  Victor  Meyer's  slender  form  ap- 
peared on  the  platform,  and  as  his  bright  blue  eyes 
glanced  around  the  assembly,  there  broke  forth  a  shout 
of  welcome  from  all — engineers,  machinists,  architects, 
as  well  as  from  his  own  students,  the  chemists — to  be 
ended  in  a  whirlwind  of  applause  at  the  close  of  a  speech, 
sparkling  and  witty  as  ever." 

Meyer's  reception  in  Gottingen  was  all  that  could  be 
desired.  His  inaugural  lecture  created  a  furore  ("  es 
war  zum  Brechen  voll,"  he  writes),  and  he  was  well 
pleased  with  so  auspicious  a  beginning.  Besides,  the 
other  men  on  the  staff  were  such  as  any  head  of  a  depart- 
ment could  well  be  proud  of.  C.  Polstorff,  K.  Buchka, 
R.  Leuckardt,  P.  Jannasch,  and  L.  Gattermann  were 
among  the  regular  forces.  Then  there  was  the  old 
attendant  Mahlmann,  whom  the  students  of  Wohler 
still  remembered  as  a  marvel  in  glass  blowing.  And, 
finally,  Sandmeyer,  Stadler,  and  several  other  Zurich 
men  completed  the  list. 

The  scientific  work  inaugurated  here  was  in  the  main 
a  continuation  of  what  had  previously  been  started  else- 
where. That  wonderful  thiophene,  which  seemed  to 
be  the  starting  point  for  as  many  derivatives  as  benzene 
itself,  was  still  a  keen  subject  for  study  in  his  labor- 
atory. The  material  along  these  lines  accumulated  to 
such  an  extent  that  Meyer  found  himself  warranted  in 
publishing  a  book  on  these  sulphur  compounds.  Vapor 
density  determinations — a  subject  which  had  agitated 
)  him  even  early  in  his  Zurich  career— were  being  fol- 
lowed up  with  unslackened  zeal. 

187 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

But  Meyer  was  never  so  engrossed  with  his  own  work 
as  not  to  keep  abreast  of  the  work  which  others  in  the 
field  were  doing.  Thus  we  find  him  engaging  in  a 
friendly  polemic  with  Baeyer  on  the  latter 's  views  as  to 
the  constitution  of  benzene.  Stereoisomerism — a  term 
corned  by  Meyer — dealing  with  configuration  in  space,  a 
subject  then  in  its  infancy,  also  engaged  his  attention; 
and  he  early  applied  van't  Hoff's  views  to  explain  several 
perplexities,  such  as  the  configuration  of  hydroxylamine 
and  isomeric  oximes  of  unsymmetrical  ketones.  Here 
we  see  the  Professor  no  less  proficient  in  the  field  of 
speculation  than  in  that  of  experimentation. 

Feeling  the  need  of  a  comprehensive  treatise  on 
organic  chemistry,  which  neither  the  German  nor  any 
other  language  supplied,  Meyer,  in  collaboration  with 
his  assistant  Jacobson,  started  his  famous  text-book. 
To  this  day  it  has  not  a  peer.  Those  who  have  had 
occasion  to  do  any  extensive  work  in  this  branch  of  the 
science  know  well  enough  how  indispensable  a  part  of 
their  equipment  this  book  is.  Unfortunately  the  senior 
author  did  not  live  long  enough  to  see  the  work  in  its 
completed  form  (it  ultimately  appeared— still  incom- 
plete— in  two  bulky  volumes). 

Much  as  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  research  work 
adds  to  the  renown  of  an  institution,  certain  other  factors 
tend  to  have  no  small  influence.  When  Meyer  came  to 
Gottingen  the  size  and  equipment  of  the  laboratories 
were  far  from  what  could  be  desired,  and  one  of  his 
stipulations  was  that  this  state  of  affairs  would  soon  be 
altered.  With  a  willingness  which  could  result  only 
from  the  esteem  in  which  Meyer  was  held,  the  author- 
ities appropriated  a  sum  sufficient  to  build  a  new  labor- 
atory, and  gave  him  complete  charge  of  supervising  its 
construction.  Of  course,  this  took  up  much  time,  but  as 
the  laboratory  was  to  prove  the  tools  of  the  carpenter, 

188 


VICTOR  MEYER 

and  realizing  how  much  the  finished  product  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  quality  of  the  tools  employed,  Meyer 
threw  himself  into  it  with  a  wholeheartedness  which  was 
characteristic  of  everything  he  undertook. 

Another  step  in  the  direction  of  increasing  efficiency 
was  the  formation  of  the  Gb'ttingen  Chemical  Society. 
The  number  of  research  men  had  risen  to  such  a  height — 
at  this  time  there  were  105 — that  Meyer  readily  fore- 
saw the  advantage  of  organizing  a  club  where  these  men 
could  congregate  and  discuss  current  topics.  At  these 
meetings  the  students  would  give  accounts  of  the 
progress  of  their  latest  investigations,  and  professors 
and  students  would  engage  in  friendly  criticism.  The 
esprit  de  corps  thus  created  was  little  short  of  wonderful. 
The  one  source  of  great  worry  to  Meyer  as  well  as  to 
his  dear  friends  was  the  state  of  his  health,  which  at 
best  was  but  indifferent.  Here  in  Gottingen  he  had 
formed  a  very  intimate  friendship  with  Ebstein,  a  well- 

I  known  professor  in  the  medical  faculty,  and,  fortunately 

!  for  him,  Ebstein  was  untiring  in  his  efforts.  In  1888, 
when  Meyer  suffered  a  bad  attack  of  diphtheria,  only 
his  friend's  constant  attention  saved  him.  Ebstein  pre- 

i  scribed  no  end  of  rest  cures.  These  were  well  enough 
in  themselves,  but,  as  they  so  often  clashed  with  work 
in  the  laboratory,  Meyer  fretted  not  a  little.  However, 
feeling  that  it  was  a  question  of  life  and  death,  he  usually 

:  yielded. 

It  was  on  one  of  these  recuperation  tours  that  Meyer 
revisited  his  old  Zurich.  His  reception  by  faculty  and 
students  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  way  they  regarded  their 
old  professor.  But  he  had  already  had  a  proof  of  this 
shortly  after  he  came  to  Gottingen.  Then  his  Zurich 
scholars  sent  him  an  address  which  he  described  as 

j"so  etwas  schones  habe  ich  noch  nicht  gelesen  und 
auch  noch  nicht  gesehen !  " 

189 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

The  summer  vacations  were  usually  spent  in  Heligo- 
land by  the  sea.  Here,  in  company  with  his  friends, 
Liebermann,  Tollens,  Ebstein,  and  occasionally  Kirch- 
hoff,  the  weeks  were  passed  in  recuperation  and  inter- 
change of  views. 

In  the  fall  of  1888  his  quiet  life  gave  place  to  days  of 
great  agitation. 

On  November  u  he  writes  to  his  brother:  "  Con- 
fidential! Yesterday  I  received  an  official  communi- 
cation from  the  ministry  offering  me  the  professorship 
hi  Heidelberg  in  succession  to  Bunsen.  They  are 
ready  to  do  anything  I  want  them  to  do.  But  not  a  soul 
must  know  of  this  till  next  Thursday.  On  that  day  the 
new  chemical  building  will  be  officially  opened,  and  were 
this  news  to  leak  out  then,  it  would  cause  a  great  scandal. 
What  shall  I  do,  unlucky  man  that  I  am!  The  greatest 
piece  of  good  fortune  hi  the  world,  and  yet  here  I  am — 
a  most  dissatisfied  beggar."  To  Baeyer  he  writes: 
"  I  must  write  to  you  in  the  very  first  place.  I  am  not 
far  wrong  when  I  surmise  that  you  have  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  honor  that  has  come  to  me.  My 
debt  of  gratitude  to  you  is  forever  on  the  increase.  The 
Minister  of  Education  writes  that  the  Faculty  and  Senate 
have  nominated  me  unico  /oco,  and  that  Bunsen  was 
particularly  desirous  of  seeing  me  succeed  him." 

In  Berlin,  where  negotiations  were  begun,  Althoff, 
the  minister,  was  as  bent  upon  retaining  Meyer — at  least 
in  Prussia — as  the  Heidelberg  authorities  were  bent  upon 
getting  him.  He  held  out  the  assurance  that  Meyer 
would  be  the  logical  successor  to  Hofmann  hi  Berlin, 
as  Helmholtz  and  the  majority  of  the  faculty  there  had 
declared  themselves  in  his  favor.  "  I  brushed  all  this 
aside,"  writes  Meyer,  "  and  told  Althoff  that  I  hoped 
Hofmann  would  write  a  nice  obituary  notice  of  me  in 
the  Berichte."  Not  even  the  title  of  Geheimrat,  which 

190 


VICTOR  MEYER 

was  bestowed  upon  him  at  this  time,  could  influence  him. 
"  On  the  envelope  you  address  me  as  Geheimrat," 
he  writes  to  his  brother.  "That,  of  course  doesn't 
matter,  and  yet  it  troubles  me.  I  have  strictly  forbidden 
any  of  my  assistants  to  apply  that  title  to  me.  '  Pro- 
fessor' is  far  more  to  my  liking,  and  that  they  shall 
call  me,  as  they  have  hitherto  done." 

Urged  by  Bunsen,  Meyer  finally  decided  for  Heidel- 
berg. "  I  am  the  happiest  and  yet  the  most  wretched 
of  men,"  he  writes. 

Before  proceeding  to  assume  his  duties  in  Heidelberg 
he  spent  several  delightful  days  in  Bordighera.  Here 
were  Baeyer,  Emil  Fischer,  Wallach  and  Quincke,  "  the 
masters  of- them  that  know  "  in  chemistry. 

To  Heidelberg  Meyer  took  as  his  assistants  Jannasch, 
Gattermann,  Jacobson,  Auwers  and  Demuth.  At  this 
day  when  one  reads  these  names  one  cannot  but  help 
admiring  Meyer's  wonderful  judgment  of  men.  Every 
one  of  these  five  has  since  made  an  enviable  name  for 
himself. 

"I  saw  him  in  Heidelberg  in  the  spring  of  1891," 
writes  Thorpe,  "  when  he  was  busy  with  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  old  laboratory,  and  it  was  with  a  glance  of 
pride — a  pardonable  pride — that  he  pointed  out  the 
places  where  he  and  I  had  worked  with  *  Papa '  Bun- 
sen.  ...  It  was  strange,  too,  to  hear  the  sound  of 
children's  voices  and  their  laughter,  and  the  bustle  of 
servants  in  what  was  formerly  the  silent,  half-deserted 
rooms  overlooking  the  Wredeplatz;  and  stranger  still 
to  me  was  it,  as  we  together  called  upon  Bunsen,  sitting 
solitarily  in  his  rooms  overlooking  the  Bunsenstrasse, 
to  behold  the  meeting  and  to  listen  to  the  greeting  of 
these  two  men — the  memory  of  whose  names  and 
fame  Heidelberg  will  cherish  so  long  as  Heidelberg 
exists." 

191 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

At  forty-one  Meyer  found  himself  head  of — what  then 
was — the  most  famous  chemical  school  in  the  world. 
For  many  years  Bunsen  had  been  looked  upon  as  the 
Nestor  -of  the  science.  The  most  promising  students 
all  flocked  to  Heidelberg  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  great 
master.  Almost  every  university  chair  of  chemistry  of 
any  pretensions  was  filled  by  one  of  Bunsen's  pupils. 
Yet  of  all  of  them  Bunsen  looked  upon  Meyer  as  the  most 
brilliant,  and  it  was  because  of  that  that  he  was  so  eager 
to  have  Meyer  succeed  him. 

As  in  Gb'ttingen  so  in  Heidelberg,  Meyer  continued 
researches  long  before  begun.  These  were,  however, 
supplemented  by  one  important  addition:  a  study  of 
conditions  determining  both  the  gradual  and  explosive 
combustion  of  gaseous  mixtures,  and  this  new  phase  of 
his  labors  may  be  regarded  as  the  outstanding  feature  of 
his  Heidelberg  tenure  of  office. 

All  would  have  been  well  but  for  his  physical  suffer- 
ings. These  re-commenced  soon  after  he  came  to 
Heidelberg,  and  they  scarcely  left  him  till  the  day  of  his 
death.  Early  in  the  morning  of  August  8,  1897,  ^e  took 
his  own  life  by  swallowing  some  prussic  acid.  On  the 
table  he  left  this  message:  "  Geliebte  Frau!  Geliebte 
Kinder!  Lebt  wohl!  Meine  Nerven  sind  zerstort,  ich 
kann  nicht  mehr."  At  the  early  age  of  forty-nine,  when 
in  the  full  bloom  of  his  powers,  this  remarkably  gifted 
man  passed  away. 


From  the  reports  which  have  come  to  us  it  would 
seem  that  Meyer's  qualities  as  a  teacher  were  rivalled 
only  by  his  powers  as  an  investigator.  Mention  has 
already  been  made  of  his  histrionic  talents;  these  were 
put  to  effective  use  hi  later  days  as  professor.  His 
extraordinary  command  of  language,  spoken  in  a  well- 

192 


VICTOR  MEYER 

modulated  voice,  and  coupled  with  a  well-nigh  unrivalled 
knowledge  of  his  subject,  went  far  to  assure  success. 
In  addition,  Meyer's  laboratory  technique,  one  of  his 
precious  assets,  stood  him  in  excellent  stead  when 
experimentally  illustrating  his  lectures — and  his  lectures 
were  always  copiously  illustrated  by  experiments,  in  the 
preparation  of  which  no  pains  were  spared.1 

Nor  as  a  man  did  he  fall  short.  Sympathetic  by  nature, 
generous  almost  to  a  fault,  always  eager  to  acknowledge 
the  labor  of  others,  with  not  a  taint  of  jealousy  in  his 
make-up,  full  of  a  hearty  optimism  which  made  him  a 
congenial  companion,  a  splendid  raconteur,  an  excellent 
after-dinner  speaker,  a  violin-player  of  no  mean  calibre — 
these  qualities  endeared  him  to  all.  His  friends, 
Bunsen,  Kopp,  Erlenmeyer,  Baeyer,  Graebe,  Kekule, 
Liebermann,  Fischer,  etc.,  respected  him  not  only  as  an 
eminent  colleague,  but  loved  him  as  a  man  of  worth.2 
His  house  was  a  centre  not  merely  for  scientific,  but 
literary  and  artistic  notables.  At  these  gatherings  his 

1 "  I  well  recollect  that  the  word  most  frequently  used  in  Zurich 
in  defining  the  opinions  of  Victor  Meyer's  students  of  his  lectures 
was  'brilliant I*  (Watson  Smith).  "What  particularly  struck 
me  about  his  lectures  was  their  finished  style.  He  made  fairly 
constant  use  of  notes,  speaking  with  great  rapidity.  Yet  his  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  was  very  clear,  and  his  language  perfect.  The 
experiments  were  always  well  prepared  and  exceptionally  success- 
ful. Indeed,  his  lectures  were  most  popular.  ..."  (John  I. 
Watts.) 

2  "  Ich  muss  Euch  doch  sagen,  wie  entziickt  ich  wider  von  allem 
bin:  Berlin,  Halle,  Miinchen.  In  Miinchen  war  es  ganz  herrlich 
mit  Baeyers,  Fischers,  und  dem  anderen.  Baeyer  ergriff  eimnal 
bei  Tische  das  Glas  um  mit  Emil  Fishcer  und  mir  Schmollis  zu 
machen,  denkt  nur,  der  liebe  Mann!  Es  brachte  uns  momentan 
in  fSrmliche  Verlegenheit,  denn  naturlich  brauchten  wir  mehrere 
Tage,  bis  wir  uns  daran  gewb'hnen  konnten,  ihn  ungeniert  Du  zu 
nennen."  (Victor  Meyer,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  October  17, 
1883.) 

193 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

charming  wife  and  four  daughters  did  much  to  con- 
tribute towards  a  delightful  evening.8 

Meyer  was  not  one  of  those  professors  who  shrink 
from  popularizing  their  science.  He  frequently  wrote  for 
the  Naturforcher,  Naturwissenschaftliche  Rundschau, 
Deutsche  Revue,  Deutsche  Worte.  Even  in  Harden's 
Zukunft  we  find  an  article  on  Pasteur  in  which  the 
attempt  is  made  to  explain  the  asymmetry  of  the  carbon 
atom  to  a  lay  public.  Nor  were  his  activities  strictly  con- 
fined to  scientific  subjects.  In  pure  belles-lettres  he 
published  Wanderblattern  und  Skizzen  Aus  Natur  und 
Wissenschaft  and  Martztage  im  Kanarischen  Archipel. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  Meyer  was  president  of  the 
German  chemical  society,  Emil  Fischer  being  the  vice- 
president.  In  1888,  when  the  new  building  at  Gottingen 
was  finished,  the  title  of  Geheimrath  was  bestowed  on 
him.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Akademien  der 
Wissenschaften  zu  Berlin,  Munchen;  die  Gesellschaft 
der  Wissenschaften  zu  Upsala,  and  Gottinger  Gelehrte 
Gesellschaft.  From  the  Royal  Society  of  London  he 
received  the  Davy  Medal,  and  the  University  of  Kb'nigs- 
berg  granted  him  the  degree  M.D.  (Hon.X 

3 "  Die  jugendliche  Gestallt,  der  fein  geschmttene,  geistreiche 
Kopf,  das  seelenvolle  blaue  Auge,  der  Wohlklang  der  Stimme  nah- 
men  schon  ausserlich  Jeden  fur  ihn  ein."  (Liebermann.) 

"  Young,  handsome,  well  dressed — for  a  German  professor — with 
a  quick  wit  and  a  genial  manner,  he  was  a  welcome  addition  to  any 
gathering.';  (John  I.  Watts.) 

"  No  one  was  more  popular  at  these  gatherings  (the  Chemical 
Society  at  Heidelberg)  than  Meyer.  His  nimbje  mind  and  retentive 
memory,  his  gift  of  ready  speech,  his  sense  of  humor,  and  genial 
manner  combined  to  make  it  pleasant  to  listen  to  him,  no  matter 
whether  he  was,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  society,  called 
upon  to  give  an  account  of  some  work  which  had  just  been  published, 
or  whether  he  was  discussing  and  criticising  a  communication  from  a 
fellow-member."  (Thorpe.) 

194 


VICTOR  MEYER 

References 

For  much  of  my  material  I  am  indebted  to  Richard 
Meyer's  life  of  his  brother  (i).  Carl  Liebermann's 
memorial  lecture  (2)  delivered  to  the  members  of  the 
German  chemical  society  is  a  beautiful  homage  to  a 
departed  friend.  Prof.  £.  Thorpe  in  his  Essays  on 
Historical  Chemistry  (3)  has  an  interesting  article  on 
Victor  Meyer.  A  detailed  accound  of  Meyer's  work 
will  be  found  in  Dr.  Harrow's  article  (4). 

z.  Richard  Meyer:  Victor  Meyer.  Berichte  der  deutchen  chem- 
ischen  Gesellschaft  (Berlin),  41,  4505  (1908). 

a.  Carl  Liebermann:  Victor  Meyer.  Berichte  der  deutchen  chem- 
ischen  Gesellschaft  (Berlin),  30,  2157  (1897). 

3.  E.  Thorpe:  Essays  on  Historical  Chemistry  (Macmillan  and  Co. 

19"). 

4.  Benjamin  Harrow:  Victor  Meyer — His  Life  and  Work.    Journal 

of  the  Franklin  Institute ,  Sept.  (1916),  p.  377. 


195 


IRA  REMSEN 

MISTRY  in  America  is  a  very  young 
product.  It  probably  received  its  impetus 
from  the  Englishman,  Priestly,  the  discoverer 
of  oxygen,  who  came  to  these  shores  towards 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  from  Robert 
Hare,  the  inventor  of  the  oxy-hydrogen  blowpipe. 
Indirectly,  the  illustrious  Benjamin  Franklin  also  had  a 
share  in  laying  foundations. 

The  flame  was  kept  a-burning  by  a  number  of  well- 
known  teachers  at  various  university  centers  in  the 
country,  such  as  Wolcott  Gibbs  (1822-1908)  and  J.  S. 
Cooke  (1827-94)  of  Harvard,  S.  W.  Johnson  (1830- 
1909)  of  Yale,  and  J.  W.  Mallet  (1832-1912),  of  Virginia. 
The  more  modern  period  was  ushered  in  by  Charles 
Eliot  in  Boston,  Frederick  Chandler,  at  Columbia  E.  F. 
Smith  at  Pennsylvania,  and  Ira  Remsen  at  Johns 
Hopkins. 

From  small  beginnings,  the  science  has  enlarged  a 
thousand  fold.  The  American  Chemical  Society  has  a 
membership  of  13,000.  It  publishes  an  erudite  journal, 
devoted  to  recording  the  results  of  research  by  its 
members;  a  chemical  abstracts,  embracing  a  digest  of 
the  world's  chemical  literature;  and  a  journal  of  in- 
dustrial chemistry  which,  in  the  last  four  or  five  years, 
has  become  one  of  the  best  in  the  world. 

Remsen  was  the  first  professor  of  chemistry  at  the 
first  institution  ever  established  in  America  for  post- 
graduate work — Johns  Hopkins.  He  was  the  founder 
of  the  American  Chemical  Journal,  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
America.  As  teacher,  as  research  worker  and  as 

197 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

writer,  he  is  probably  more  directly  responsible  for  the 
remarkable  development  of  the  science  in  the  United 
States  than  any  other  man  living. 

Remsen  was  born  in  New  York  City  on  February  10, 
1846.  His  father,  James  Vanderbilt  Remsen,  was 
descended  from  one  of  the  earliest  Dutch  settlers  of 
Long  Island.  His  mother,  Rosanna  Secor  Remsen, 
could  also  trace  her  descent  from  early  Dutch  settlers 
and  French  Hugenots.  Her  grandfather  was  the  Rev. 
James  D.  Demarest  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
who  had  married  Eliza  Haring,  daughter  of  John  Haring, 
a  man  of  some  distinction  in  Revolutionary  times. 

In  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Demarest,  where  Remsen 
spent  part  of  his  childhood,  both  Dutch  and  English 
were  spoken;  the  clergyman,  in  fact,  preached  in  both 
these  languages.  The  atmosphere  was  a  deeply  re- 
ligious one.  There  were  morning  and  evening  prayers 
and  reading  of  the  scriptures,  and  rather  long  grace 
before  and  after  each  meal.  Before  he  was  twelve 
Remsen  had  read  the  Bible  several  tunes,  and  fervently 
believed  every  line  written  in  the  holy  book. 

To  improve  his  wife's  health,  Remsen  senior  bought 
a  farm  in  Rockland  County,  New  York,  and  Ira  was 
brought  here  when  some  eight  years  old.  The  next  two 
years  were  spent  in  the  country,  giving  the  boy  an  oppor- 
tunity to  come  into  close  contact  with  nature — a  most 
valuable  education  for  any  boy.  Trees  and  birds  and 
fruits  and  flowers  and  animals  and  various  aspects  of 
farming,  all  came  under  his  survey. 

After  his  mother's  death  young  Remsen  and  the  rest 
of  the  family  returned  to  New  York.  The  smattering 
of  knowledge  which  the  boy  had  received  in  rural 
schools  was  now  augmented  by  first  sending  him  to  the 
public  school,  and  later,  when  fourteen  old,  to  the  Free 
Academy,  now  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

198 


IRA  REMSEN 

With  the  exception  of  history,  Remsen  excelled  in  all 
subjects  at  the  College,  particularly  in  mathematics. 
The  highly  suggestive  way  of  teaching  history  was  to 
cram  dates  down  your  throat:  if  they  refused  to  stick, 
you  were  a  poor  student  of  history.  Remsen  had  no 
memory  for  dates,  and  so  he  was  adjudged  a  poor 
student  of  history. 

Latin  and  Greek  were  also  pumped  into  his  poor  little 
system,  to  which,  strangely  enough,  Remsen  took  very 
kindly.  Of  science  there  was  precious  little.  Dr. 
Ogden  Doremus  embraced  the  whole  of  science, — 
anatomy,  physiology,  geology,  astronomy,  etc., — in  3 
course  of  lectures  given  once  a  week  during  the  year. 
Prof.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  later  at  Harvard,  did  give  a  few 
lectures  on  chemistry,  but  these  made  no  impression 
upon  Remsen.  What  helped  considerably  were  Dore- 
mus's  popular  lectures  on  physics  and  chemistry, 
given  in  the  large  lecture  hall  of  the  Cooper  Institute. 
Doremus  never  spared  experiments,  and  thereby  he 
aroused  interest  in  many  of  his  hearers,  among  them 
Remsen. 

Remsen  never  graduated  from  the  Free  Academy. 
His  father  had  decided  that  the  lad  should  study  medi- 
cine, and  in  the  opinion  of  this  good  man,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  family  physician,  the  earlier  Ira  was  started 
upon  his  medical  career,  the  better.  That  the  boy  had 
shown  no  aptitude  along  this  line  mattered  little.  In 
those  days  parents  did  not  consult  children,  and  children 
were  obedient. 

Remsen  was  apprenticed  to  a  medical  man  who  taught 
chemistry  in  the  homeopathic  medical  college.  That 
worthy  man  gave  the  boy  a  text-book  of  chemistry,  and 
said,  "Read I"  So  read  he  did.  But  it  was  Greek 
to  him — worse  than  Greek,  for  he  knew  something  of 
that  language.  Years  later,  in  one  among  his  many 

199 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

addresses  which  never  failed  to  interest,  Remsen  re- 
called this  period: 

"While  reading  a  text-book  of  chemistry  I  came 
upon  the  statement,  *  nitric  acid  acts  upon  copper.' 
I  was  getting  tired  of  reading  such  absurd  stuff  and  I 
determined  to  see  what  this  meant.  Copper  was  more 
or  less  familiar  tome,  for  copper  cents  were  then  hi  use. 
I  had  seen  a  bottle  marked  *  nitric  acid '  on  a  table  hi 
the  doctor's  office  where  I  was  then  'doing  tune!' 
I  did  not  know  its  peculiarities,  but  I  was  getting  on  and 
likely  to  learn.  The  spirit  of  adventure  was  upon 
me. 

"  Having  nitric  acid  and  copper,  I  had  only  to  learn 
what  the  words  'acts  upon'  meant.  Then  the  state- 
ment, 'nitric  acid  acts  upon  copper'  would  be  some- 
thing more  than  mere  words.  All  was  still.  In  the 
interest  of  knowledge  I  was  even  willing  to  sacrifice  one 
of  the  few  copper  cents  then  in  my  possession. 

"  I  put  one  of  them  on  the  table;  opened  the  bottle 
marked  'nitric  acid';  poured  some  of  the  liquid  on 
the  copper;  and  prepared  to  take  an  observation.  But 
what  was  this  wonderful  thing  I  beheld?  The  cent  was 
already  changed,  and  it  was  no  small  change  either.  A 
greenish  blue  liquid  foamed  and  fumed  over  the  cent 
and  over  the  table.  The  air  hi  the  neighborhood  of  the 
performance  became  colored  dark  red.  A  great  colored 
cloud  arose.  This  was  disagreeable  and  suffocating. 
How  should  I  stop  this? 

"  I  tried  to  get  rid  of  the  objectionable  mess  by  picking 
it  up  and  throwing  it  out  of  the  window,  which  I  had 
meanwhile  opened.  I  learnt  another  fact — nitric  acid 
not  only  acts  upon  copper  but  it  acts  upon  fingers.  The 
pain  led  to  another  unpremeditated  experiment.  I  drew 
my  fingers  across  my  trousers  and  another  fact  was 
discovered.  Nitric  acid  acts  upon  trousers. 

200 


IRA  REMSEN 

"  Taking  everything  into  consideration,  that  was  the 
most  impressive  experiment,  and,  relatively,  probably 
the  most  costly  I  have  ever  performed.  I  tell  of  it  even 
now  with  interest.  It  was  a  revelation  to  me.  It  re- 
sulted in  a  desire  on  my  part  to  learn  more  about  that 
remarkable  kind  of  action.  Plainly  the  only  way  to  learn 
about  it  was  to  see  its  results,  to  experiment,  to  work  in 
a  laboratory." 

The  boy  tasted  experiment,  and  he  liked  it  well;  he 
tasted  it  again,  and  he  liked  it  better.  Plainly,  chem- 
istry had  something  to  it  provided  you  could  handle  things 
and  see  things. 

Without  any  instruction  beyond  what  he  could  get 
from  the  text-book  and  his  own  independent  investi- 
gations, Remsen  was  next  asked  to  act  as  lecture- 
assistant  to  the  professor  who  had  so  well  undertaken  to 
develop  the  young  man's  chemical  knowledge.  Remsen 
was  required  to  prepare  experiments  which  he  himself 
had  never  performed,  and  had  never  seen;  the  results 
can  be  imagined.  He  was  further  requested  to  form  a 
"  quiz  "  class  in  chemistry — a  request  asking  "  the 
blind  man  to  lead  the  blind."  Success  again  was 
unavoidable,  was  it  not?  Here  we  get  our  first  glimpse 
of  science  teaching  in  America  in  the  sixties.  Only  by 
comparing  its  status  then  with  what  it  is  now  can  we 
form  an  opinion  of  the  enormous  change  that  sixty  years 
have  wrought. 

Remsen  was  pretty  well  disgusted  with  the  teacher, 
but  not  with  chemistry.  But  chemistry  could  not  yet 
be  taken  up.  His  father  said  that  he  was  to  be  a  phy- 
sician, and  a  physician  he  had  to  be ;  but  if  a  medical 
man,  he  was  at  least  going  to  some  college  with  a  better 
reputation.  The  father  mildly  protested,  and  so  did 
the  professor,  but  nevertheless  Remsen  entered  his 
15  201 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

name  as  a  student  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  of  Columbia  University. 

In  1867,  at  the  age  of  21,  Remsen  graduated  as  doctor 
of  medicine.  For  a  thesis,  which  was  required  of  every 
member  of  the  graduating  class,  he  selected  a  subject 
dealing  with  the  fatty  degeneration  of  the  liver.  Ad- 
dressing the  Medical  Faculty  of  Maryland  in  1878, 
Remsen  referred  to  this  thesis  as  follows : 

"  Eleven  years  ago,  in  company  with  99  others,  I  was 
proclaimed  fit  to  enter  upon  the  career  of  a  medical  man. 
My  erudition  in  medical  matters  was  exhibited  in  a 
thesis  on  the  Fatty  Degeneration  of  the  Liver,  a  sub- 
ject on  which  I  was  and  am  profoundly  ignorant.  I  had 
in  fact  never  seen  a  liver  which  had  undergone  fatty 
degeneration,  nor  a  patient  who  possessed,  or  was  sup- 
posed to  possess  one;  nor,  I  may  add  have  I  had  that 
pleasure  up  to  this  day." 

And  yet  Remsen  got  one  of  the  two  prizes  offered  for 
the  best  theses!  The  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, since  grown  into  the  well-known  "  P.  and  S." 
school,  was  then  perhaps  a  little  better  than  the  worst  of 
its  type,  but  very,  very  far  from  acceptable.  There  were 
no  acceptable  medical  colleges  in  the  United  States. 
Johns  Hopkins  had  not  yet  shown  the  way. 

What  was  Remsen  to  do  now?  True,  his  precepter, 
the  "professor,"  offered  him  a  partnership  in  his 
lucrative  practise;  but  aside  from  any  repugnance  in 
going  forth  to  kill  when  he  could  do  that  but  clumsily,  he 
really  did  not  like  medicine  at  all.  The  little  experiment 
with  copper  and  nitric  acid  still  lingered  in  his  mind. 

But  if  a  chemist,  where  was  he  to  go  to  get  his  in- 
struction? The  big  chemical  laboratories  at  Harvard, 
at  Chicago,  at  California,  at  Illinois,  at  Columbia, 
familiar  to  the  student  of  to-day,  were  yet  to  be  born. 
Harvard  was  a  possibility,  but  small  in  comparison  with 

202 


IRA  REMSEN 

research  centers  on  the  continent.  Remsen  had  read 
Liebig's  Chemical  Letters.  Liebig  was  the  great 
chemist  of  Germany,  with  but  one  rival,  Wohler.  Every- 
body spoke  of  Liebig;  even  the  child  in  the  street  had 
heard  of  Liebig's  beef  extract. 

We  are  not  told  how  well  Remsen's  father  received  the 
young  man's  proposed  change  of  program.  Whether 
well  or  otherwise,  the  younger  man  triumphed.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  summer  in  1867  the  M.D.  set  out  for 
Munich. 

Arriving  in  Munich,  Remsen  had  his  first  hopes  dashed 
to  the  ground  by  being  told  that  Liebig  no  longer  received 
students.  All  he  did  at  this  time  was  to  give  a  lecture 
course  in  inorganic  chemistry.  The  young  foreigner 
then  was  forced  to  turn  to  the  most  promising  privat- 
docent  in  Liebig' s  laboratory,  who  happened  to  be 
Jacob  Volhard.  In  Volhard's  laboratory  Remsen  re- 
ceived his  first  systematic  instruction  in  chemistry. 
Up  to  that  time  he  had  never  made  the  simplest  analysis ; 
he  had  only  performed  the  crudest  experiments  for 
lecture  purposes. 

He  spent  two  semesters  in  Munich,  from  October 
1867  to  August  1868,  working  in  Volhard's  laboratory. 
The  privat-docent  had  few  students — sometimes  Rem- 
sen was  the  only  one  in  the  laboratory.  This  was  an 
extremely  fortunate  circumstance  for  the  American; 
he  received  private  instructions  from  one  of  the  best 
laboratory  manipulators  of  the  day.  Remsen  also 
attended  Liebig's  course  of  lectures. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  Volhard  advised  him  to  go  to  a 
larger  laboratory  and  suggested  Gottingen.  Fortunately, 
Wohler,  the  professor  at  Gottingen,  was  then  in  Munich, 
on  a  visit  to  his  old  friend  Liebig.  Through  Volhard 
Remsen  secured  an  introduction  to  Wohler,  who  told 
hmi  that  he  would  be  very  welcome  in  Gottingen. 

203 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Wohler  kept  his  promise;  he  even  procured  a  nice 
lodging  for  the  young  man. 

Remsen  came  to  work  directly  under  Fittig,  then  pro- 
fessor extraordinarius  at  Gottingen.  In  due  time  the 
undergraduate  became  a  research  worker,  with  the 
oxidation  of  xylene  (a  compound  closely  allied  to  ben- 
zene) as  a  subject  to  work  upon.  The  outcome  of  this 
research  was  sufficiently  promising  to  warrant  Fittig 
suggesting  another  line  of  work,  this  time  connected 
with  a  method  of  synthesis  which  Fittig  had  inaugurated, 
and  which  still  bears  his  name.  This  was  not  so  suc- 
cessful. 

To  complete  his  requirements  for  the  Ph.D.,  Remsen 
undertook  another  investigation, — one  dealing  with 
piperic  acid.  The  results  of  this  work  were  embodied 
in  his  dissertation  presented  to  the  faculty  of  the  uni- 
versity in  partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy,  and  later  published  in 
the  Annalen  der  Chemie.  Early  in  1870  he  received 
the  doctor's  degree. 

Remsen  was  about  to  return  home  when  Fittig  re- 
ceived a  call  to  Tubingen  to  succeed  Strecker,  where- 
upon Fittig  suggested  that  Remsen  should  accompany 
him  to  Tubingen  as  an  assistant.  To  this  Remsen 
gladly  assented.  In  Tubingen  he  remained  for  two 
years,  acting  as  lecturer  and  laboratory  assistant,  and 
utilized  his  spare  time  in  carrying  on  investigations  of 
his  own. 

In  Tubingen,  also,  Remsen  made  the  acquaintance  of 
William  Ramsay, — then  a  young  undergraduate  but 
recently  arrived  from  England — under  somewhat  dra- 
matic circumstances.  "  Ramsay  appeared  in  the  labor- 
atory for  the  first  time.  Ringing  for  a  long  time  at  the 
door  he  was  finally  answered  by  a  young  man  in  overalls. 
'  Konnen  sie  mir  sagen  wo  ist  die  Vorlesungszimmer? ' 

204 


IRA  REMSEN 

queried  Ramsay.  This  was  shocking  German,  but  he 
had  done  the  best  he  could  with  his  phrase  book." 
The  "  young  man  in  overalls,"  who  was  none  other  than 
Remsen,  looked  at  the  stranger,  paused,  and  then  said, 
"  Oh!  I  guess  you  want  the  lecture-room!  H 

Remsen  and  Ramsay  became  great  chums.  Around 
them  they  gathered  most  of  the  English,  Scotch  and 
American  students  in  Gottingen.  A  baseball  club  was 
formed,  in  which  the  English  (including  the  present 
Lord  Milner )  and  Scotch  took  part,  but  not  the  Germans. 
Then  there  was  skating  on  the  ice  winter  afternoons, 
and — sometimes — dinner  parties  in  the  evening,  when 
Ramsay  entertained  the  company  with  "  A  fine  Old 
English  Gentleman,"  to  his  own  accompaniment. 

In  1872  Remsen  returned  to  the  United  States  after 
having  spent  nearly  five  years  in  Germany.  He  was 
now  a  university  man,  appreciated  university  life,  and 
could  conduct  research.  But  what  opening  was  there 
for  such  a  man? 

He  wandered  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  completed  a 
translation  of  Wohler's  Organische  Chemie  which  he 
had  begun  in  Tubingen,  and  which  H.  C.  Lea  and 
Company  had  promised  to  publish.  But  what  next? 
At  times  he  lost  faith  and  became  despondent.  He  had 
given  up  one  profession,  prepared  himself  for  the 
practise  of  another,  and  apparently  every  position  was 
filled  and  every  opportunity  had  been  seized  by  some- 
one else.  His  long  absence  from  the  country  and  his 
change  of  pursuit  had  left  him  with  practically  no  one 
to  look  to  for  help  and  advise. 

After  some  months  of  fruitless  endeavour  to  get  some- 
thing, he  received  an  offer  from  the  University  of 
Georgia,  and  close  upon  this  offer  came  another,  from 
Williams  College.  Offers,  like  sorrows,  come  not  in 
single  file,  but  in  battalions. 

205 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

Remsen  accepted  the  appointment  at  Williams  College 
as  professor  of  physics  and  chemistry.  When  he  got 
there  he  found  the  cupboard  bare — Williams  College 
possessed  no  laboratory!  A  mild  request  for  one 
received  the  following  answer  from  the  president: 
"  You  will  please  keep  in  mind  that  this  is  a  college  and 
not  a  technical  school.  The  students  who  come  here 
are  not  to  be  trained  as  chemists  or  geologists  or 
physicists.  They  are  to  be  taught  the  great  fundamental 
truths  of  all  sciences.  The  object  aimed  at  is  culture, 
not  practical  knowledge."  With  which  immortal  dis- 
course the  great  man  dismissed  the  subject.  At  the 
end  of  a  year,  the  board  of  trustees  did,  however,  build 
Remsen  a  small  laboratory  for  his  own  use,  and  here, 
amid  such  discouragement,  he  prosecuted  research  on 
the  action  of  ozone  on  carbon  monoxide,  on  phosphorus 
trichloride,  and  on  derivatives  of  benzoic  acid.  The 
results  were  published  in  the  American  Journal  of 
Science  and  in  the  Berichte  der  deutschen  chemischen 
Gesellschaft. 

"  I  remember,"  writes  Remsen,  "  that  once  after 
the  appearance  of  one  of  my  articles  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Science,  we  had  a  faculty  meeting  in  the 
college  library.  Someone  picked  up  the  number  of  the 
journal  containing  my  article,  and  some  good-natured 
fun  was  poked  at  me  when  an  attempt  was  made  to 
read  the  title  aloud.  I  felt  that  in  the  eyes  of  my  col- 
leagues I  was  rather  a  ridiculous  subject."  Remsen  was 
only  27  then,  and  over-sensitive. 

So  four  years  were  passed.  In  the  meantime,  a  book 
on  Theoretical  Chemistry,  which  Remsen  had  written 
during  his  many  despondent  hours,  proved  an  extra- 
ordinary success.  The  novel  method  of  presentation, 
the  systematic  arrangement,  a  rare  clearness  and  sim- 
plicity in  style,  afforded  it  a  welcome  among  all  scientific 

206 


IRA  REMSEN 

workers.    It  passed  through  five  editions,  and  was  trans- 
lated into  German  and  Russian. 

Later,  when  at  Johns  Hopkins,  Remsen  wrote  a 
number  of  books  on  inorganic  and  organic  chemistry, 
with  almost  unvarying  success.  Had  his  reputation  to 
rest  on  nothing  more  than  author  of  such  text-books,  he 
would  find  no  inconspicuous  place  in  the  history  of 
chemistry  in  America. 

Then  in  1876  came  that  great  change  in  universities 
in  the  United  States  with  the  establishment  of  a  graduate 
school  at  Johns  Hopkins,  in  Baltimore.  Huxley,  then 
in  this  country,  very  appropriately  ushered  hi  the  new 
era  by  an  address  of  welcome.  Gildersleeve,  the  Greek 
scholar,  Rowland,  the  physicist,  and  Sylvester,  the 
mathematician,  were  appointed  to  form  a  nucleus  of 
promising  scholars.  To  this  trio  was  added  Ira  Remsen 
as  professor  of  chemistry.  He  was  then  thirty  years  old. 

The  position  could  not  have  been  more  ideal.  Em- 
phasis was  to  be  placed  upon  advanced,  graduate  work, 
the  professors  were  expected  to  do  research,  and  the 
necessary  facilities  were  to  be  provided  to  the  extent 
that  money  could  provide  them.  There  were  no  petty 
restrictions  of  any  kind.  "  Do  your  best  work  and  do 
it  in  your  own  way."  That  was  the  only  advice  Presi- 
dent Gilman  had  to  offer. 

In  May,  1877,  Remsen  delivered  his  first  lecture  on 
advanced  organic  chemistry  to  a  small  group  of  students 
huddled  together  in  a  room  which  has  since  become  a 
storeroom  for  odds  and  ends.  Research  was  begun 
immediately.  Regular  weekly  meetings  to  discuss 
current  topics  were  also  introduced.  "...  nowhere 
else  [in  America],  so  far  as  I  know,  had  the  advanced 
students  been  taken  in  and  given  an  opportunity  to 
acquire  the  habit  of  familiarizing  themselves  with  the 
current  progress  of  the  science  and  of  perfecting  them 

207 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

selves  in  the  art  of  giving  concise  and  lucid  expression 
to  the  information  acquired  in  the  course  of  their 
reading."  1 

The  extensive  series  of  researches  begun  in  1877  and 
carried  on  without  a  break  well  into  the  twentieth  century 
dealt  with  various  phases  of  organic  chemistry.  Perhaps 
the  most  interesting  outcome  from  a  practical  stand- 
point was  the  preparation  of  orthobenzoic  sulphinide,  or 
saccharin^  in  1879.  This  substance,  obtained  from 
toluene,  a  product  of  coal  tar,  is  unique  in  being  five 
hundred  times  as  sweet  as  sugar.  In  spite  of  the  more 
than  100,000  carbon  compounds  that  have  been  pre- 
pared, no  substance  similar  to  it  in  sweetness  has  ever 
been  unearthed.  And  the  wonder  increases  when  we 
remember  that,  chemically,  saccharin  and  sugar  have 
nothing  in  common. 

At  first  Remsen  sent  his  contributions  to  Prof.  J.  D. 
Dana  for  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  but  soon  the 
amount  of  matter  grew  to  such  proportions,  that  it  fright- 
ened poor  Dana.  The  work  was  of  such  a  specialised 
character;  perhaps  it  would  be  more  desirable  to  send 
such  contributions  to  foreign  journals?  queried  Dana. 

Remsen  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  found  a  chemi- 
cal journal  in  America.  With  this  in  view,  he  got  into 
touch  with  the  leaders  of  science.  Most  of  them  dis- 
couraged the  plan;  very  few  had  anything  to  say  in 
favor  of  it.  Despite  this  cold  reception,  he  started  the 
American  Chemical  Journal  in  1879.  It  proved  a  suc- 
cess from  the  start.  Workers  from  all  over  the  country 
began  to  flood  the  publication  with  contributions.  As  a 
stimulant  to  research  in  chemistry  at  various  scientific 
centers,  the  Journal  stood  in  the  same  relation  as  John 


1  Prof.  H.  N.  Morse,  Director  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Dept.  of 
Chemistry. 

208 


IRA  REMSEN 

Hopkins  University  did  towards  the  other  universities 
of  the  country. 

For  many  years,  and  long  after  influential  scientific 
centers  had  sprung  up  in  the  United  States,  the  American 
Chemical  Journal  continued  to  be  the  sole  medium  for 
the  publication  of  American  chemical  research.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  the  Journal  of  the 
American  Chemical  Society,  the  official  organ  of  the 
American  Chemical  Society,  came  to  the  forefront,  and 
in  1914,  Remsen's  journal,  its  purpose  served,  was  dis- 
continued. 

In  the  last  number  of  the  American  Chemical  Journal 
Remsen  says:  "The  American  Chemical  Society  has 
grown  to  great  importance  and  is  amply  prepared  to 
provide  for  the  publication  of  all  articles  on  chemical 
subjects  likely  to  be  prepared  in  this  country.  .  .  . 
Taking  everything  into  consideration  it  now  seems 
best  to  the  editor  to  place  the  control  of  his  journal  in 
the  hands  of  the  society.  It  is  needless  for  him  to  say 
that  after  35  years  of  editorial  work  he  does  not  now 
withdraw  from  it  without  a  feeling  of  deep  regret.  His 
earnest  hope  is  that  the  step  may  prove  wise." 

During  the  absence  of  President  Oilman  in  Europe 
in  1889-90  Remsen  served  as  acting  president  of  Johns 
Hopkins,  and  in  1901,  when  President  Oilman  retired 
from  office,  he  was  elected  as  Oilman's  successor.  This 
office  he  held  with  marked  distinction  until  1912,  when 
he  resigned. 

During  his  tenure  of  the  presidency  what  distinguished 
it  particularly  was  the  perfect  freedom  he  allowed  pro- 
fessors. He  realized  that  "  every  man  does  his  best 
work  when  he  is  allowed  to  do  it  in  his  own  way." 
"  The  many  criticisms  that  in  recent  times  have  been 
directed  toward  this  [the  president's]  office  in  our 
American  institutions  are  certainly  not  applicable  to  him. 

209 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

He  never  abused  the  power  placed  in  his  hands,  there 
has  been  no  autocratic  interference  with  the  autonomy 
of  the  individual  departments,  and  above  all  there  has 
been  no  suspicion  of  indirection  in  his  dealings  with  his 
staff.  We  have  had  implicit  confidence  in  his  motives. 
.  .  .  We  have  been  very  contented,  happy,  and  prosper- 
ous under  his  administration."  1 

It  has  been  pointed  out  how,  first  as  writer,  then  as 
investigator,  and  finally  as  editor,  Remsen's  influence 
upon  chemical  research  in  America  has  been  profound; 
as  teacher,  it  was  no  less  so.  "  I  will  only  say,  as  many 
others  have  said  before  me  in  effect,  that  I  have  never 
seen  his  equal  as  a  master  of  simple  and  lucid  exposition 
...  as  a  teacher  of  many  other  teachers,  his  influence, 
direct  and  remote,  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  of 
incalculable  value  to  American  students  of  chemistry."  2 

His  former  students  are  some  of  our  very  best  chem- 
ists to-day:  Orndorff  of  Cornell;  (the  late)  H.  C.  Jones 
of  Johns  Hopkins;  W.  A.  Noyes,  Illinois;  Kohler,  Har- 
vard; C.  H.  Herty,  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Industrial  and 
Engineering  Chemistry;  J.  F.  Norris,  Mass.  Inst.  of 
Technology;  S.  R.  McKee,  Columbia;  E.  E.  Reed,  of 
Johns  Hopkins;  and  Burton  and  Gray,  superintendent 
and  chief  chemist  respectively  of  the  chemical  depart- 
ment of  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 

Several  attempts  to  induce  Remsen  to  leave  Baltimore 
for  other  and  more  lucrative  positions,  proved  futile. 
The  University  of  Chicago  made  a  particularly  tempting 
offer,  but  Remsen  remained  true  to  Johns  Hopkins. 
"  This  is  my  birth  for  life,"  he  said  in  an  address  to 
the  students. 

When  Remsen  went  to  Williams  as  a  very  young  man 
the  students  "  had  it  in  for  him,"  so  some  of  them  con- 

1  W.  H.  Howell,  prof,  of  physiology  at  Johns  Hopkins. 

2  Prof.  H.  N.  Morse. 

210 


IRA  REMSEN 

fessed  quite  frankly  later.  With  time  the  students' 
desire  to  make  it  "  hot "  for  the  teacher  gave  place  to  a 
desire  to  please.  Rernsen  with  his  simplicity,  his 
humor,  his  interesting  methods  of  presenting  the  subject, 
made  himself  very  much  liked.  At  Johns  Hopkins  he 
was  extremely  popular  because,  in  addition  to  sound 
scholarship,  he  had  so  much  of  the  milk  of  human 
kindness;  he  forgave  much. 

One  point,  however,  about  which  he  was  very  particular 
was  punctuality.  A  story  is  told  of  him  in  this  respect. 
While  engaged  in  a  lecture  upon  some  of  the  chemical 
elements,  he  was  in  the  act  of  describing  some  attributes 
of  sulphur.  As  he  uttered  the  first  syllable,  "  sul — ," 
the  door  in  the  back  of  the  room  opened  and  a  young 
man  noted  for  his  habitual  lateness  entered.  The  in- 
structor stopped  short  and  stood  with  the  word  half 
uttered  while  the  abashed  student,  in  the  midst  of  an 
awful  and  soul-oppressing  silence,  made  his  hasty  way 
to  a  seat.  Then  with  a  tone  of  strong  relief,  and  with 
the  interest  of  each  student  intensified  upon  him, 
Remsen  suddenly  gave  expression  to  the  concluding 
syllable  of  his  word — "  phur!  " 

At  the  request  of  the  National  Board  of  Health  of 
Baltimore,  Remsen,  in  1881,  undertook  an  investigation 
into  the  organic  matter  in  the  air,  and  a  study  of  the 
impurities  in  the  air  of  rooms  heated  by  hot  air  furances 
and  by  stoves.  Similar  work  was  done  for  the  city  of 
Boston.  In  1882  he  became  a  member  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences,  and  in  1884  served  on  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  investigate  the  glucose  industry  of 
the  United  States.  Another  committee  upon  which  he 
served  dealt  with  the  question  of  the  processes  employed 
in  denaturing  alcohol. 

In  1909  President  Roosevelt  appointed  Remsen  chair- 
man of  a  board  of  consulting  scientific  experts  to  aid 

211 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  in  matters  pertaining  to 
the  administration  of  the  pure  food  law.  The  other 
members  of  this  board  were  Dr.  R.  H.  Chittendon, 
Director  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School;  Dr.  J.  H. 
Long,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Director  of  the  Chem- 
ical Laboratories  in  Northwestern  University;  Dr.  C.  A. 
Herter,  Professor  of  Pharmacology  and  Therapeutics, 
Columbia  University;  Dr.  A.  E.  Taylor,  Professor  of 
Pathology  and  head  of  the  Department,  University  of 
California;  now  Professor  of  Physiological  Chemistry  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Herter  died  in  De- 
cember, 1910,  and  Dr.  Theobald  Smith,  Professor  of 
Comparative  Pathology  in  the  Harvard  Medical  School, 
was  appointed  to  fill  his  place.  The  Board  was  gener- 
ally known  as  the  "  Remsen  Board." 

Dr.  Wiley,  chief  chemist  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  selected  a  number  of  men  as  subjects  for 
investigation  on  the  assimilation  of  benzoate  of  soda. 
These  men  came  to  be  known  as  the  "  poison  squad." 
Dr.  Wiley  declared  that  in  experiments  which  had  lasted 
some  twenty  days,  a  number  of  the  men  had  become  ill. 
The  maximum  amount  of  the  sodium  benzoate  given  to 
any  one  man,  and  distributed  over  the  twenty  days  was 
one  and  two-thirds  ounces. 

Dr.  Wiley's  conclusion  did  not  pass  unchallenged. 
Some  authorities  declared  that  the  fever  of  the  young 
men  was  due  to  nothing  more  than  an  epidemic  of  grip 
which  was  then  raging.  Neither  were  the  experiments 
themselves  considered  very  satisfactory.  The  majority 
of  the  individuals  had  been  used  in  previous  experiments 
where  they  had  been  made  ill ;  and  the  sodium  benzoate, 
instead  of  being  distributed  in  the  food — just  as  it  is 
when  used  as  a  preservative — was  given  to  the  patients 
in  capsules. 

212 


IRA  REMSEN 

The  members  of  the  "  Remsen  Board "  repeated 
Wiley's  experiments,  working  quite  independently  of 
one  another.  The  assistants  took  from  one-third  of  a 
gram  to  six  grams  (1/5  oz.)  daily,  and  in  no  instance 
were  any  ill-effects  noticed.  Now  the  law  allowed  no 
more  than  0.3  gram  of  sodium  benzoate  for  one  pound 
of  beef,  which  was  only  one-twentieth  of  what  the 
assistants  had  received. 

In  1914  the  "  Remsen  Board  "  reported  on  the  use 
of  alum  in  baking  powders;  this  they  found  to  be  non- 
injurious,  provided  too  large  quantities  were  not  used. 
Large  amounts  provoke  catharsis,  due  to  the  sodium 
sulphate  which  results  from  the  reaction.  The  general 
conclusion  drawn  was  that  alum  baking  powder  was  no 
more  harmful  than  any  other  baking  powder ;  but  possi- 
ble secondary  effects  due  to  chemical  reactions  between 
the  ingredients  made  it  seem  advisable  to  recommend 
that  food  leavened  with  alum  baking  powder  should  be 
used  in  moderate  quantities  only. 

Remsen  has  been  the  recipient  of  many  honors.  The 
LL.D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Columbia  in  1893; 
Princeton,  1896;  Yale,  1901;  Toronto,  1902;  Harvard, 
1909;  and  Pennsylvania,  1910.  In  1898  he  was  elected 
a  Foreign  Fellow  of  the  London  Chemical  Society,  and 
in  1911,  a  Foreign  Member  of  the  French  Chemical 
Society.  In  1902  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of 
the  American  Chemical  Society,  and  in  the  following 
year  to  that  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science. 

From  1907-1913  Remsen  was  President  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences — the  highest  American  scientific 
distinction.  The  president  preceding  Remsen  had  been 
Alexander  Agassiz.  In  1908  he  was  awarded  the  Gold 
Medal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry  (England), 
and  two  years  later  became  its  president.  In  1914  he 

213 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

received  the  Willard  Gibbs  Medal  of  the  Chicago  Section 
of  the  American  Chemical  Society. 

Remsen  was  married  in  1875  to  Elizabeth  H.  Mallory, 
a  daughter  of  a  New  York  merchant,  who  with  his  family 
spent  his  summers  in  Williamstown.  They  have  two 
sons,  Ira  M.  who  is  an  artist,  and  Charles  M.,  a  surgeon, 
practicing  in  Atlanta,  Ga. 

As  President  of  Johns  Hopkins,  Remsen's  time  for 
research  was  very  limited.  One  of  his  reasons  for 
retiring  from  the  presidency  was  a  desire  to  return  to 
the  love  of  his  younger  days,  and  this  "  return  to  the 
fold  "  made  him  happy  again.  "  The  transformation 
from  university  president  to  chemist  is  complete,  and  I 
rejoice." 

References 

Part  of  the  information  comes  from  private  sources. 
Remsen's  address  before  the  Chicago  section  of  the 
American  Chemical  Society,  delivered  in  1914  (i) 
contains  much  of  biographical  interest.  For  details 
regarding  the  Tubingen  days,  Tilden's  Sir  William 
Ramsay  (2)  has  been  of  service.  Other  articles  that 
were  found  useful  were  3,  4,  5,  6,  7  and  8. 

Remsen's  celebrated  article  on  saccharin  was  pub- 
lished in  the  American  Chemical  Journal  (9).  He  is 
also  the  author  of  a  number  of  well-known  texts,  refer- 
ences to  some  of  these  being  given  (10,  u,  12,  13,  14). 

1.  Ira   Remsen:    The    Development   of   Chemical   Research   in 

America.    Journal  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  37, 

i  (1915)- 

2.  Sir  W.  A.  Tilden:    Sir  William  Ramsay  (Macmillan  and  Co. 

1918). 

3.  Anon.:    Referee  Board  Reports  on  Alum  Foods.    American 

Food  Journal,  May,  1914,  p.  188. 

4.  Anon. :  A  Vindication  of  Benzoate  of  Soda  from  the  attacks  of 

Dr.  Wiley.     Current  Literature,  52,  304  (1912). 

214 


IRA  REMSEN 

5.  Marcus  Benjamin:  Prof.  Ira  Remsen,  President  of  the  Ameri- 

can Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Scientific 
American,  88,  ig  (1903). 

6.  Anon.:    Johns  Hopkins'   New  President.    Baltimore  Sunday 

Herald,  Oct.  13,  1901. 

7.  Marcus  Benjamin:    Development  of  Chemistry  in  America. 

The  Star,  May  25,  1890. 

8.  Anon.:    The  Resignation  of  President  Remsen.     The  Johns 

Hopkins  University  Circular,  No.  10,  1912. 

9.  Ira  Remsen  and  C.  Fahlberg:  On  the  Oxidation  of  Substitution 

Products  of  Aromatic  Hydrocarbons.  IV.  On  the  Oxidation 
of  Orthotoluenesulphamide.  American  Chemical  Journal, 
1,  426  (1879). 

10.  Ira  Remsen:  Principles  of  Theoretical  Chemistry  (H.  C.  Lea's 

Son  and  Co.,  Philadelphia.    1883). 

11.  Ira  Remsen:  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Compounds 

of  Carbon  (D.  C.  Heath  and  Co.,  Boston.     1906). 

12.  Ira  Remsen:    Elements  of  Chemistry   (Macmillan   and   Co. 

1887). 

13.  Ira  Remsen:  Inorganic  Chemistry  (Macmillan  and  Co.    1889). 

14.  Ira  Remsen:    A  College  Text-Book  of  Chemistry  (Macmillan 

and  Co.    1908). 


215 


EMIL  FISCHER 

news  has  reached  us  that  Emil  Fischer 
no  more.  Since  the  fateful  August, 
1914,  Germany  has  lost  her  Ehrlich,  her 
Buchner  and  her  Baeyer;  England,  her 
Ramsay,  Crookes  and  Moseley.  Deaths  occur,  wars  or 
no  wars ;  yet  Buchner  might  have  lived  had  not  a  shell 
cut  short  his  existence ;  and  young  Moseley  had  barely 
started  along  his  brilliant  career  when  he,  like  the 
promising  Rupert  Brooke,  laid  down  his  life  for  his 
beloved  England.  Ramsay's  end,  we  know,  was 
hastened  by  manifold  war  duties.  To  what  extent 
Fischer  was  a  victim  of  the  war  is  still  unknown  to  us; 
but  we  were  told,  from  time  to  time,  of  his  violent  pan- 
Germanism,  doubtless  encouraged  by  the  exalted  posi- 
tion he  held  under  the  crown.  The  magnitude  of 
Germany's  debacle  would  have  crushed  a  spirit  less 
proud  than  Geheimer-Regierungsrat  Fischer. 

Whatever  opinions  we  may  have  regarding  Fischer's 
political  affiliations,  there  can  be  no  question  of  his 
position  in  the  history  of  chemistry.  His  bitterest 
enemies  are  the  first  to  pay  tribute.  He  easily  takes  his 
place  as  the  greatest  organic  chemist  of  our  generation. 

To  appreciate  his  work  a  little  more,  we  must  look 
into  the  state  of  the  science  when  Fischer  began  his 
labors.  In  those  days — in  the  seventies — organic  chem- 
istry, or  the  chemistry  of  the  compounds  of  carbon,  was 
a  field  for  the  most  fruitful  research.  The  addition  of 
carbon  and  hydrogen  and  oxygen  atoms,  and  the  vari- 
ous rearrangements  within  a  molecule,  could  be  accom- 
plished with  such  relative  ease,  that  candidates  wishing 
16  217 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

to  get  a  doctor's  degree  in  the  shortest  time  were  readily 
attracted  to  this  branch  of  the  science.  New  compounds 
of  carbon  were  being  daily  manufactured  by  the  score 
in  Germany,  England  and  France. 

In  many  cases  these  compounds  have  remained  of 
interest  to  the  writers  of  reference  books  only.  A 
number,  however,  found  wider  application  in  the  dye 
and  drug  industry. 

That  animal  and  vegetable  life  were  largely  made  up 
of  carbon  compounds,  that  the  food  we  eat  could  be 
largely  divided  into  fat,  proteins  and  carbohydrates, — 
all  this  was  known.  If,  then,  a  knowledge  of  the 
composition  of  these  substances,  as  truly  belonging  to 
organic  chemistry  as  marsh  gas  or  benzene,  was  vague 
and  wholly  unsatisfactory,  this  was  due  to  the  complexity 
of  their  make-up.  Chevreul  and  Berthollet  had 
cleared  the  situation  in  so  far  as  the  fats  were  con- 
cerned, but  the  chemistry  of  the  carbohydrates,  and 
particularly  that  of  the  proteins,  remained  as  mysterious 
as  ever.  The  three  foodstuffs  were  the  borderland 
where  chemistry  ended  and  biology  began;  the  lack 
of  a  solution  of  the  composition  of  at  least  two  of  these 
foodstuffs  left  the  finishing  touches  of  the  edifice  of 
organic  chemistry  still  undone,  and  gave  a  wholly  un- 
satisfactory foundation  for  the  science  of  physiology. 

To  the  solution  of  this  problem  Fischer  pledged  his 
life  while  still  a  student,  and  brilliantly  did  he  fulfil 
his  life's  task.  With  an  imagination  tempered  only 
by  a  splendid  scientific  training,  an  originality  of  mind 
which  made  a  lasting  impress  upon  every  piece  of  work 
with  which  he  was  associated,  and  a  rare  skill  in  devising 
apparatus,  he,  first  by  his  own  labors,  and  later,  as 
director-general  of  an  army  of  aspiring  students,  gradu- 
ally unfolded  the  mysteries  that  had  enshrined  the  most 
complex  chemical  substances  known  to  man.  Like  all 

218 


EMIL  FISCHER 

great  contributions,  his  has  added  not  only  to  our  chemi- 
cal knowledge,  but  has  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  cognate 
sciences,  such  as  botany,  zoology  and  physiology. 

Fischer  was  born  in  Euskirchen,  Rhenish  Prussia,  on 
October  9,  1852.  His  father,  Lorenz  Fischer,  was  a 
successful  merchant  whose  success  in  business  must 
have  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  son,  for  Emil, 
after  matriculating  the  gymnasium  in  Bonn,  joined  his 
father's  concern  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 

This  enthusiasm  for  the  commercial  world,  however, 
was  short  lived.  Within  two  years  he  had  abandoned 
all  thoughts  of  high  finance,  and  has  inscribed  himself 
as  a  student  at  Bonn  University.  Kukule,  one  of  van't 
Hoff's  teachers,  was  the  professor  of  chemistry,  and 
Engelbach  and  Zincke  were  his  active  assistants. 
Fischer  came  in  contact  with  all  three. 

The  ill-omened  Franco-German  war  had  barely  termi- 
nated when  the  German  government  decided  to  found  a 
university  at  Strassburg.  To  this  place,  in  the  autumn 
of  1817,  Fischer,  true  to  the  German  student's  traditions, 
came  to  spend  part  of  his  wanderjahre.  The  initial 
training  for  a  chemist  required  a  sound  course  in  in- 
organic chemistry,  particularly  of  an  analytical  kind. 
Under  Rose,  Fischer  was  made  acquainted  with  Bunsen's 
methods  for  the  analysis  of  water,  an  experience  which 
was  of  use  when  the  young  man  undertook  to  do  analyti- 
cal work  for  the  town  of  Colmar. 

By  the  end  of  a  year  Fischer  was  ready  for  the  next 
step  in  the  training  of  a  chemist — a  course  in  organic 
chemistry.  This  brought  him  in  contact  with  Adolf  von 
Baeyer,  the  professor  of  the  subject. 

Baeyer,  a  man  of  eighty,  died  recently  in  Munich. 
He  was  the  connecting  link  between  Liebig  and  Wohler 
on  the  one  hand,  and  his  own  pupils  who  so  brilliantly 
carried  on  the  best  traditions  of  the  great  school  of 

219 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

organic  chemistry  which  Liebig  and  Wohler  had  built. 
To  him,  even  when  at  the  small  Gewerbeakademie  in 
Berlin,  came  Graebe  and  Liebermann,  whose  synthesis 
of  alizarin  has  already  been  discussed  (see  Perkin); 
and  Victor  Meyer,  the  conquering  hero  among  chemists. 
Fischer  now  came  to  pay  homage.  At  a  later  date  Will- 
statter  joined  the  little  band  of  Baeyer's  scholars. 
Fischer  and  Baeyer  are  no  more,  but  Willstatter,  the 
chlorophyll  wizard,  who  has  recently  been  appointed  to 
Baeyer's  chair  in  Munich,  bids  fair  to  equal,  if  not  out- 
strip his  master  in  quality  and  originality  of  work. 

Fischer  immediately  came  under  the  spell  of  Baeyer. 
The  professor  was  rapidly  reaching  the  height  of  his 
intellectual  output.  His  amazing  mastery  of  every 
phase  of  the  subject,  the  keen  criticism  to  which  every 
piece  of  work  was  subjected,  the  fertility  of  his  ideas, 
combined  with  the  fatherly  care  he  took  of  his  "  child- 
ren," the  students,  made  Baeyer  very  popular  with  his 
assistants  and  research  workers,  not  least  of  all  with 
Fischer. 

In  July,  1874,  Fischer  completed  an  investigation  on 
the  coloring  matters  fluorescein  and  orcin-phthalein,  for 
which  he  received  his  Ph.D.  His  immediate  appoint- 
ment to  an  assistantship  was  evidence  that  he  had 
already  made  an  impression  upon  Baeyer,  whose 
faculty  for  detecting  promising  material  was  not  the 
least  of  his  gifts. 

In  less  than  a  year  Fischer,  with  his  discovery  of 
phenylhydrazine,  forged  to  the  very  front  rank  of 
organic  chemists.  Later  this  substance  in  his  hands 
proved  the  most  effective  tool  in  synthesising  the  sugars, 
which  are  typical  members  of  the  carbohydrate  family. 
To-day  the  osazone  test  for  sugars,  a  test  depending 
upon  the  use  of  this  same  phenylhydrazine,  is  among 
the  commonest  and  the  most  effective  methods  used  by 

220 


EMIL  FISCHER 

the  chemist,  the  physiologist  and  the  clinician  for  the 
isolation  and  detection  of  the  sugars. 

Little  wonder,  then,  that  when  Baeyer  in  this  same  year 
was  selected  to  succeed  Liebig  in  Munich,  he  was  desir- 
ous that  young  Fischer  should  accompany  him.  This, 
of  course,  was  just  what  Fischer  wanted. 

For  the  next  three  years  Fischer  held  no  official  posi- 
tion at  the  University  of  Munich.  As  events  proved, 
this  was  the  most  fortunate  thing  that  could  have 
happened.  He  had  no  students  to  instruct,  no  labor- 
atory work  to  supervise;  the  entire  time  could  be  de- 
voted to  research. 

And  how  well  did  Fischer  make  use  of  this  time! 
With  phenylhydrazine  as  the  starting  point,  the  various 
derivatives  of  this  parent  substance  were  investigated, 
and  its  relationship  to  a  group  of  substances  that  act 
as  "  intermediates  "  in  the  manufacture  of  dyes — the 
diazo  compounds,  was  clearly  established.  The  ease 
with  which  phenylhydrazine  combines  with  other  sub- 
stances gave  rise  to  an  almost  endless  series  of  new 
compounds.  To  us  of  particular  interest  is  its  combina- 
tion with  two  important  classes  of  organic  compounds 
known  as  the  aldehydes  and  he  tones — a  discovery 
which  found  direct  application  in  the  chemistry  of  the 
sugars.  Victor  Meyer,  by  the  use  of  hydroxylamine,  a 
substance  closely  related  to  ammonia,  had  also  shown 
how  the  aldehydes  and  ketones  could  be  recognized. 
Starting  from  two  different  angles,  Meyer  and  Fischer, 
who  became  the  closest  of  friends,  and  whom  Baeyer 
regarded  as  his  two  most  talented  pupils,  met  on  com- 
mon ground.  Between  them  they  opened  up  two  vast 
chapters  hi  organic  chemistry. 

At  the  same  time,  Fischer,  in  collaboration  with  his 
cousin  Otto  Fischer,  began  an  investigation  of  the 
rosaniline  dyestuffs — the  magenta  of  Perkin — which 

221 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

terminated  in  the  brilliant  discovery  that  these  dyes 
were  all  derivatives  of  a  base  triphenylme thane. 

The  importance  of  this  work  may  be  gauged  when  we 
reflect  that  Otto  Fischer  owed  his  appointment  as  pro- 
fessor at  Erlangen  to  this  investigation,  and  its  possi- 
bilities are  such  that  all  of  Otto  Fischer's  subsequent 
contributions  have  largely  centered  around  the  pioneer 
work  in  which  his  cousin  played  such  a  leading  part. 

Genius  will  out,  and  recognition  came  quickly.  Fisch- 
er was  made  privat-docent  in  1878,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  was  promoted  to  the  extraordinary  professorship 
and  given  entire  charge  of  the  analytical  department  in 
Baeyer's  laboratory. 

Then  began  those  classical  investigations  into  the 
active  constituents  of  coffee  and  tea,  caffeine  and 
theobromine,  and  their  relationship  to  xanthine  and 
guanine — decomposition  products  obtained  from  the 
protein  in  the  nucleus  of  cells — which  ultimately  opened 
up  an  entirely  new  chapter  in  plant  and  animal  chemistry. 

In  the  Easter  of  1882  Fischer  accepted  a  call  as  full 
professor  (ordinarius)  to  Erlangen,  and  three  years  later 
he  exchanged  this  chair  for  one  in  Wurzburg. 

Fischer  was  not  much  over  thirty  when  he  assumed 
charge  in  Wurzburg,  yet  the  ten  years  which  had  passed 
since  he  had  received  the  doctor's  degree  had  been  put 
to  such  good  use  that  he  already  belonged  to  the  four 
or  five  leading  chemists  of  Germany. 

Thus  far  his  work  had  been  carried  out  with  little 
assistance,  but  now,  as  an  ordinarius,  research  students 
were  not  wanting,  particularly  in  view  of  Fischer's 
eminence.  Under  his  supervision  a  fine  new  laboratory 
was  built,  and  with  his  active  co-operation  his  students 
continued  work  on  indol,  uric  acid  and  the  sugars. 

After  many  weary  trials,  Fischer  managed  to  syn- 
thesise  the  most  important  sugars — among  them  fruit 

222 


EMIL  FISCHER 

and  grape  sugar — and  also  to  prepare  many  new  ones 
artificially.  It  was  in  the  course  of  this  intricate  and 
laborious  work  that  he  had  occasion  to  put  van't  Hoff 
and  Le  Bel's  theory  of  the  asymmetric  carbon  atom  to 
exhaustive  tests,  with  results  which  established  the 
theory  more  firmly  than  ever. 

This  work  on  the  sugars  threw  some  light  on  the 
method  by  which  carbohydrates  are  formed  in  the 
plant.  We  know  that  the  carbon  dioxide  and  the 
moisture  are  taken  up  from  the  air  by  the  plant  and,  in 
the  presence  of  chlorophyll,  are  first  probably  converted 
to  glucose,  then  to  starch  and  fat  and,  in  the  presence  of 
nitrogen  obtained  from  the  soil,  partly  to  protein. 
Baeyer's  theory  of  the  first  part  of  the  reaction  is  that  the 
carbon  dioxide  and  moisture  combine  to  form  formalde- 
hyde ("  formalin  "),  liberating  oxygen,  and  that  by  poly- 
merization, or  a  method  of  coalescing,  the  formaldehyde 
molecules  condense  to  form  a  molecule  of  sugar. 

This  theory  received  its  first  experimental  support 
when  Butler  off  showed  that  formaldehyde  in  the  presence 
of  lime  water  yielded  a  sugar-like  mixture.  It  was  left, 
however,  for  Fischer  to  prove  that  this  sugar-like  mixture 
contained  a  small  quantity  of  a  substance,  a-acrose, 
which  he  was  able  to  transform  into  glucose.  Fenton 
completed  the  cycle  by  his  success  in  converting  carbon 
dioxide  into  formaldehyde  at  a  low  temperature. 

Thus  the  initial  chemical  processs  in  the  plant  were 
in1  a  measure  duplicated  in  the  chemist's  laboratory. 
Even  the  conditions  of  normal  temperature  under  which 
these  reactions  proceed  in  the  plant  were  fulfilled.  But 
the  well-nigh  100  per  cent  efficiency  of  the  plant  could 
not  be  even  distantly  approached. 

The  mechanism  of  the  reverse  process,  by  which  such 
a  substance  as  glucose  is  oxidised  in  the  body  to  carbon 
dioxide  and  water,  is  hardly  better  known.  We  do 

223 


N: 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

know  that  oxidising  ferments  facilitate  the  reaction  at 
body  temperature,  and  the  work  of  Dakin  and  Lusk  in 
this  country  has  made  it  seem  probable  that  a  glycerin- 
like  substance  or  substances,  and  lactic  acid,  are  im- 
portant intermediate  products. 

Thus,  as  in  simpler  chemical  reactions,  the  beginning 
and  end  of  the  reaction  are  clear,  but  again  like  any 
chemical  reaction,  the  intermediate  steps  are  very 
difficult  to  elucidate. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  these  epoch-making  experi- 
ments on  the  sugars,  when  phenylhydrazine  was  con- 
stantly used,  that  Fischer  began  to  suffer  with  chronic 
poisoning,  due  to  the  inhalation  of  the  vapors  of  this 
substance.  Its  effects  he  never  got  rid  of,  and  from 
then  on  he  was  more  or  less  of  a  semi-invalid.  This 
might  perhaps  explain  why  in  after  years  students  found 
him  somewhat  of  a  "  grouch  "  and  quite  unapproachable. 
The  testimony  of  some  of  his  students  at  Wiirzburg 
seems  to  bear  conclusive  witness  to  the  fact  that  in 
those  days,  at  least,  he  was  not  only  an  inspiring  leader 
and  lecturer,  but  took  a  very  active  interest  in  his  re- 
search men.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  him 
spend  a  couple  of  hours  at  the  desk  of  one  of  his  students, 
not  only  discussing  the  problem  and  offering  suggestions, 
but  actually  illustrating  experimental  methods  of  pro- 
cedure. Such  illustrations  were  simply  priceless  in 
value  to  the  young  kandidat,  for  Fischer  was  a  master 
manipulator  as  well  as  a  master  thinker.  '" 

Like  Victor  Meyer  and  Ramsay  and  van't  Hoff,  the 
appointment  to  a  full  professorship  made  feasible  his 
marriage  to  the  lady  he  had  long  courted,  •  Fraulein 
Agnes  Gerlach.  The  two  made  a  striking  pair.  Both 
were  tall  and  handsome,  with  intellect  and  wit  a-plenty. 
Their  son,  Hermann,  has  faithfully  followed  in  his 
father's  footsteps. 

224 


EMIL  FISCHER 

In  1892  came  the  crowning  event  of  his  career.    A.  W. 
mann,  who  had  been  professor  at  the  Royal  School 
emistry  in  London  for  some  years,  and  had  there 
taught  such  men  as  Crookes  and  Perkin,  and  had  then 
been  appointed  to  the  chair  of  chemistry  at  Berlin  Uni- 
versity, died,  amLFischer  was  selected  to  succeed  him. 
This  was  a  sig^fcionor,  for  the  Prussian  Ministry  of 
Education  left  i^^sfene  unturned  to  make  Berlin  the 
foremost  center  of  learning  and  research  in  the  Empire, 
and  only  men  whose  standing  in  the  world  of  scholarship 
was  universally  conceded,  were  at  all  considered. 
Fischer^tipulated  that  he  would  accept  the  position 
nly  on  c^dition  that  a  new  laboratory  would  be  built 
r  him.    He  had  in  mind  his  splendidly-equipped  labor- 
atory in  Wurzburg,  where  the  authorities  provided  him 
with  ample  facilities  and  gave  him  unrestricted  freedom 
to  equft)  the  chemistry  building  with  the  best  and  the 
latest  ^novations.    The  Berlin  authorities  promised  the 
new  laboratory,  and  so  Fischer  moved  to  his  new  home. 
Fojy  years,  however,  were  to  pass  before  the  foundation- 
for  the  new  structure  was  to  be  laid.    This  was 
the  bad  financial  condition  of  the  university. 
Berlin  Fischer  continued  his  work  on  the  sugars, 
fact  that  many  of  these  bring  about  fermentation 
Fischer  to  fruitful  studies  on  the  possible  consti- 
ferments  and  their  relationship  to  the  substance 
n.    This  subject  of  ferments,  or  enzymes, 
is  (•Ben  tremendous  significance  in  the  activity  of  all 
life-]!Pb*cesses,    that   it    merits    a    somewhat    detailed 
discussion. 

The  word^izyme  comes  from  a  Greek  word  meaning 
"  in  yeas^' w>erhaps  the  most  acceptable  definition  in 

flight  of  recent  scientific  research  is  to  say  that  it  is  a 
stance  showing  the  properties  of  a  catalyst  and  pro- 
ed  as  a  result  of  cellular  activity. 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

But  what  is  a  catalyst?  The  reader  may  recall  his 
first  very  simple  experiment  in  the  preparation  of  oxy 
Here  the  instructor  tells  the  bewildered  youth 
you  put  a  little  potassium  chlorate  in  a  test  tube  and  heat 
this  very  strongly,  a  gas  is  evolved  which  can  be  identi- 
fied as  oxygen.  Now  by  merely  addin^a  small  quantity 
of  a  dirty  black-looking  powdej,  caMfcmanganese  di- 
oxide, to  the  potassium  chlorate,  the^Qrgen  is  evolved 
much  more  rapidly  and  at  a  much  lower  temperature. 
But  this  is  not  all.  A  careful  examination  at  the  end  of 
the  reaction  shows  that  the  manganese  dioxide  has  not 
changed  in  any  way:  we  have  the  same  substonce,  and 
the  same  amount,  at  the  end  of  the  reactioIRs  at  th< 
beginning.  Many  such  substances  are  known  to  chem 
ists.  They  all  have  this  peculiarity:  that  they  accel- 
erate chemical  reactions,1  and  that  a  relatively  small, 
at  times  insignificant  quantity  of  the  substance  suffices 
to  bring  about  the  chemical  change. 

In  cells  we  find  substances  of  this  type,  but  thus  far 
these  cellular  "  catalysts,"  unlike  the  manganese  di 
and  like  proteins,  have  never  been  produced  outsi 
the  cell. 

When  we  consider  that  life  is  possible  only  because 
continued  cellular  activity,  and  when  we  bear  in 
that  this  activity  is  largely  the  result  of  chemical  ch 
brought  about  by  these  enzymes,  the  param 
portance  of  these  substances  becomes  manifest. 

Alcoholic  fermentation  with  yeast,  the  so 
milk,  processes  of  putrefaction,  and  various  other^ ex- 
amples of  changes  in  organic  materials  with,  often 
enough,  the  accompanying  liberation  of  bibles  of  gas, 
had  long  been  known.  The  epoch-makii^  researches^ 
of  Pasteur  had  shown  that  fermentations  and  putr^ 
factions  were  inaugurated  by  the  presence  of  lii 

1  Cases  are  known  where  they  retard  chemical  reactions. 

226 


EMIL  FISCHER 

organisms.  Then  extracts  from  the  saliva  and  the 
gastric  mucosa  of  the  stomach  were  obtained  which  also 
had  the  power  of  bringing  about  chemical  changes  in 
carbohydrates  and  proteins.  This  led  to  the  classi- 
fication of  ferments  into  those  which,  like  yeast  and 
certain  bacteria,  acted  because  of  certain  vital  processes 
(organised  ferments),  and  those  which,  like  the  extracts 
from  the  saliva  and  stomach,  were  presumably  "  non- 
living unorganized  substances  of  a  chemical  nature  " 
(unorganised  ferments)  Kiihne  designated  the  latter 
enzymes.  This  classification  was  generally  accepted, 
and  the  "  vitalists  "  held  absolute  sway  until  1897,  when 
Emil  Buchner,  fired  by  Fischer's  work,  overthrew  the 
whole  theory  by  a  series  of  researches  which,  in  their 
influence,  were  only  second  in  importance  to  those  of 
Pasteur  in  an  earlier  generation. 

One  of  Buchner's  classical  experiments  consisted  in 
grinding  yeast  cells  with  sand  and  infusorial  earth,  and 
then  subjecting  the  finely  pulverized  material  to  a 
pressure  of  300  atmospheres — a  pressure  far  more  than 
enough  to  destroy  yeast,  or  any  other  cells.  The  liquid 
so  obtained  had  all  the  fermentative  properties  of  the 
living  yeast  cell.  Obviously,  then,  the  living  cell  could 
not  be  responsible  for  the  fermentation.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  experiment  did  suggest  that  cellular  activity 
gave  rise  to  some  substance  which,  once  produced, 
exerts  its  influence  whether  the  cell  is  alive  or  dead.  All 
subsequent  experiments  have  but  strengthened  the  con- 
viction that  cells  do  produce  these  substances,  and  that 
the  chemical  changes  are  due  not  to  the  living  organ- 
isms, but  to  the  lifeless  substances  (enzymes)  to  which 
the  se organisms  give  rise. 

Minute  in  quantity,  and  tenaciously  adhering  to  sub- 
stances present,  particularly  protein,  the  isolation  of  an 
enzyme  in  the  pure  state  has  become  one  of  the  most 

227 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

difficult  problems  in  physiological  chemistry.  Yet  any 
elementary  student  in  the  subject  finds  little  difficulty 
in  performing  simple  experiments  which  convince  him 
either  of  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  the  enzyme. 

The  method  consists  essentially  in  making  use  of  the 
so-called  "  specificity  "  of  enzymes,  a  conception  for 
which  Fischer  is  largely  responsible. 

Fischer's  synthetic  work  in  the  sugar  series,  particu- 
larly his  studies  into  the  configuration  of  cane  sugar, 
maltose  and  lactose,  received  a  great  impetus  from  the 
success  which  attended  his  efforts  in  preparing  gluco- 
sides — combinations  of  glucose  and  one  or  more  other 
substances — artificially.  By  the  study  of  emulsin,  and 
other  enzymes  in  yeast,  on  such  glucosides,  Fischer 
found  that  the  slightest  change  in  the  configuration  of 
the  glucoside  inhibited  the  action  of  the  enzyme.  Zy- 
mase,  another  enzyme  in  yeast,  which  is  directly  re- 
sponsible for  the  conversion  of  glucose  into  alcohol, 
behaved  similarly.  This  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that 
a  close  chemical  relationship  exists  between  the  enzyme 
and  the  substance  on  which  it  acts — a  view  which  led 
to  his  famous  analogy  of  the  lock  and  key  relationship. 
Just  as  one  key  fits  one  lock,  so  any  one  enzyme  will 
act  on  only  a  certain  type  of  substance. 

Take,  for  example,  the  enzyme  found  in  saliva, 
ptyalin;  it  readily  acts  on  the  carbohydrate,  starch,  but 
has  no  action  on  protein.  Again  take  the  pepsin  of  the 
stomach:  this  enzyme  breaks  down  proteins,  but  is 
without  result  on  carbohydrates.  These  instances  may 
be  multiplied  indefinitely. 

Some  enzymes  show  their  specificity  to  an  even  more 
marked  degree.  Fischer's  work  has  given  us  beautiful 
illustrations.  Even  in  the  yeast  cell  we  find  one, 
sucrase,  which  acts  only  on  cane  sugar  (sucrose),  but 
on  no  other  sugar  or  any  carbohydrate. 

228 


EMIL  FISCHER 

In  the  winter  of  1894  Fischer  resumed  his  earlier  work 
on  uric  acid  and  caffeine.  After  three  years  he  suc- 
ceeded in  synthetically  producing  every  constituent  of 
the  group,  and  traced  them  all  to  a  mother  substance  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  purin  (a  word  suggested  by 
the  phrase  purum  uricurri). 

The  chemist,  the  physiologist  and  the  pathologist 
can  but  wonder  at  such  genius.  Here  are  the  most 
complex  and  the  most  important  class  of  protein  bodies, 
the  so-called  nucleoproteins,  which  as  their  name 
implies,  are  found  in  the  nucleus  of  the  cell,  and  which, 
hi  the  course  of  their  chemical  decomposition  in  the 
body,  give  rise  to  xanthine,  hypoxanthine,  adanine, 
guanine,  etc. — all  typical  purines;  here  are  these 
purines  which,  in  their  further  travels  in  the  body,  come 
to  the  liver,  where  a  large  percentage  of  them  are  oxi- 
dised to  uric  acid — another  member  of  the  purine  family. 
This  same  uric  acid  is  a  never-failing  constituent  of  the 
urine,  and  its  quantity  gives  valuable  data  regarding 
nucleoprotein  metabolism  in  the  body, — of  paramount 
importance  in  such  a  disease  as  gout.  The  inter- 
relationship of  these  complex  purines,  as  well  as  their 
relationship  to  plant  analogues,  such  as  caffeine  and 
theobromine,  have  been  as  thoroughly  probed  by  Fischer 
as  the  composition  of  water  or  that  of  air.  He  has  gone 
even  further.  Having  found  relationships,  and  having 
traced  the  substances  to  one  mother  substance,  he  has 
succeeded  in  building  them  all  up  from  this  mother 
substance — a  piece  of  work  which,  with  but  one  excep- 
tion, finds  no  equal  in  synthetic  chemistry. 

The  one  exception  is  Fischer's  crowning  series  of  re- 
searches on  the  proteins.  No  work  approaching  this 
had  ever  been  done  before. 

The  proteins  are  the  most  important  of  the  three 
classes  of  foodstuffs.  Without  them  cellular  growth  and 

229 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

repair  would  be  impossible.  The  belief  has  been 
general  that  the  elucidation  of  their  constitution  would 
open  up  the  key  to  some  of  life's  great  mysteries. 

Fischer  was  not  the  first  to  tackle  this  problem  of 
problems,  but  he  was  the  first  to  give  the  lead  in  the 
right  direction. 

As  a  result  of  nearly  a  century's  labor  by  many  chem- 
ists and  physiologists)  the  proteins  have  been  shown  to 
be  made  up  of  combinations  of  much  simpler  substances, 
the  amino-acids,  the  first  and  simplest  of  which,  glycine, 
was  synthesised  years  ago  by  Perkin.  The  process  by 
which  these  ammo-acids  are  obtained  from  proteins  is 
known  as  hydrolysis,  because  water  plays  an  indispens- 
able part  in  the  reaction;  and  this  hydrolysis  can  be 
brought  about  either  by  the  use  of  acids,  alkalies  or  such 
enzymes  as  pepsin  and  trypsin,  which  are  found  in  the 
stomach  and  pancreas  respectively.  The  changes  that 
the  protein  undergoes  in  the  stomach  and  the  small 
intestine  can  be  duplicated  in  the  laboratory,  and  it  is 
then  shown  that  this  hydrolysis  proceeds  in  stages,  giving 
us  metaproteins,  primary  proteoses,  secondary  proteoses, 
peptones,  polypeptids  and  amino  acids — all  more  or 
less  well-defined  substances,  whose  chemical  complexity 
is  greatest  at  the  protein  end,  and  simplest  at  the  amino- 
acid  end. 

The  crude  physical  methods  of  classifying  proteins 
have  pointed  to  the  fact  that  there  are  some  40  to  50  in 
number.  All  of  these,  when  hydrolysed,  give  a  large 
percentage  of  the  19  amino-acids  which  are  common  to 
most  proteins;  the  differences  among  proteins  is  most 
marked  in  the  amount  of  the  various  amino-acids  which 
they  yield  when  hydrolysed. 

Due  in  no  small  part  to  the  labors  of  Fischer  and  his 
co-workers,  most  of  these  nineteen  amino-acids  have 
been  synthesised  from  simpler  bodies. 

230 


— * 


EMIL  FISCHER 

If  the  hydrolysis  of  proteins,  and  the  investigation  of 
the  decomposition  products  so  produced  was  a  difficult 
task,  what  are  we  to  say  of  the  reverse  process,  whereby, 
by  starting  with  amino-acids,  we  build  up  proteins? 

Yet  that  is  what  Fischer  did.  He  succeeded  in  work- 
ing out  methods  by  which  amino-acids  could  be  chemi- 
cally joined  on  to  one  another  in  some  such  way  as  the 
links  of  a  chain.  He  has  given  the  name  polypeptids 
to  such  combinations  of  amino-acids. 

In  his  most  celebrated  experiment  in  the  synthesis  of 
proteins,  Fischer  succeeded  in  combining  eighteen 
amino-acids — an  octadecapeptid — which  is  one  of  the 
most  complicated  artificial  substances  that  has  ever 
been  produced,  and  which  shows  some  very  striking 
resemblances  to  the  natural  proteins,  not  the  least  of 
which  is  the  way  trypsin,  the  pancreatic  enzyme,  breaks 
it  up  into  the  ammo-acids  out  of  which  the  artificial 
protein  was  built. 

The  enzymes,  as  the  reader  may  remember,  are 
specific  in  their  reaction.  The  trypsin  is  an  enzyme 
which  acts  only  on  proteins  and  on  no  other  class  of 
substances;  hence  its  action  on  Fischer's  octadeca- 
peptid is  good  evidence  in  support  of  the  view  that  the 
artificial  product  is  really  of  the  nature  of  at  least  the 
simpler  proteins.  The  starting  materials  for  this 
synthesis  cost  $250;  "so  that,"  says  Fischer,  "it  has 
not  yet  made  its  appearance  on  the  dining  table !  " 

These  glorious  researches  were  still  in  full  blast  in 
1902  when  Fischer  was  awarded  the  Nobel  prize  in 
Chemistry,  the  prizes  in  physics  going  to  van't  Hoff's 
countrymen,  H.  A.  Lorentz  and  Pieter  Zeeman;  in 
medicine,  to  Ronald  Ross,  the  malaria  hero;  and  in 
literature,"  to  Theodor  Mommsen,  the  Roman  historian. 
Fischer's  diploma  reads  as  follows : 
17  231 


EMINENT   CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

CHIMIE 

V Academic  Royale  des  Sciences  de  Suide  dans  sa 
seance  du  n  novembre  1902,  a  decide  conformement 
aux  prescriptions  du  testament  d'Alfred  Nobel  en  date 
du  27  novembre  1895,  de  remettre  le  prix  decerne  cette 
annee  "  a  celui  qui  aura  fait  la  decouverte  ou  ^invention 
le  plus  importante  dans  la  domain  de  la  physique  "  a 

EMIL  FISCHER 

en  reconnaissance  des  merites  eminents  dont  il  a  fait 
preuve  par  ses  travaux  synthetiques  dans  les  groupes 
du  sucre  et  de  la  purine. 

Stockholm,  le  10  decembre  1902. 
Hj.  Theel 
CHR.  AURIVILLIUS 

If  the  sugars  and  the  purines  deserved  the  Nobel 
prize,  no  prize  yet  founded  is  big  enough  and  important 
enough  as  a  reward  for  Fischer's  protein  studies. 

In  1907  the  Faraday  medal  of  the  English  Chemical 
Society  was  presented  to  Fischer.  This  entailed  a  trip 
to  England  to  deliver  the  Faraday  lecture — an  invitation 
which  had  been  extended  once  before  in  1895,  but  which 
ill-health  at  the  time  prevented  from  accepting. 

The  historic  lecture,  largely  taken  up  with  a  discussion 
of  the  chemistry  and  significance  of  the  three  great 
classes  of  foodstuffs,  was  delivered  in  the  theatre  of  the 
Royal  Institution,  on  October  i8th  of  that  year,  with 
Sir  William  Ramsay,  president  of  the  Society,  in  the 
chair.  In  presenting  the  medal  Ramsay  remarked  that 
it  was  awarded  "  as  a  testimony  of  our  great  regard  for 
you  as  our  foreign  member  and  of  our  affection  for  you 
as  a  man."  Within  seven  years  a  bloody  war  was  to 
twist  affection  into  the  deepest  hatred. 

232 


EMIL  FISCHER 

Sir  Henry  Roscoe,  a  star  pupil  of  Bunsen  in  Heidel- 
berg, and  for  years  professor  of  chemistry  at  Man- 
chester University,  had  this  to  say  in  proposing  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  Faraday  Medallist:  "I  have  had  the 
good  fortune  to  hear  many  Faraday  Lectures.  I  re- 
member with  pleasure  the  eloquence  of  Dumas;  the 
charm  of  Wurtz;  and  the  thought  and  beautiful  diction 
of  Helmholtz;  but,  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  think  that 
any  of  our  Faraday  Lecturers  have  awakened  greater 
interest  than  the  one  to  which  we  have  just  listened; 
and  this,  not  only  because  Emil  Fischer  is  a  master  of 
his  subject,  and  because  he  has  laid  before  us  work 
mainly  accomplished  by  his  own  inventive  brain  and  his 
own  able  hands,  but  also  because  the  subject  of  the 
application  of  synthetical  chemistry  to  biology,  which  the 
lecturer  has  so  ably  brought  before  us,  is  one  which  at 
the  present  moment  is  exceeded  in  intere-st  and  import- 
ance by  no  other  branch  of  the  science,  not  even — if  I 
may  be  allowed,  in  the  presence  of  the  President,  to 
say  so — by  that  of  radioactivity.  .  .  .  When  some  years 
ago  we  learnt  that  Emil  Fischer  had  synthesised  the 
sugars,  all  chemists  were  loud  in  their  expressions  of 
satisfaction  and  admiration.1  How  much  greater  will 
these  expressions  be  now  when  we  learn  what  success 
has  attended  the  apparently  almost  insoluble  problem 
of  the  synthesis  of  proteins.  ..." 

Since  the  time  of  Fischer's  work  various  phases  of  pro- 
tein chemistry  and  protein  metabolism  have  been  pur- 
sued with  much  success  by  such  men  as  Folin,  Levene, 
Dakin,  Jones,  Osborne,  Van  Slyke  and  T.  B.  Johnson,  in 
this  country,  Hopkins,  E.  F.  Armstrong  and  Plimmer  in 
England,  and  Kossel  and  Abderhalden  in  Germany. 

1  "  His  (Fischer's)  name,"  said  Roscoe  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Perkin  Jubilee,  "  has  the  sweetest  of  tastes  in  the  mouth  of  every 
chemist." 

233 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

The  significance  of  individual  amino-acids  in  diet  has 
been  eloquently  expounded  by  Abderhalden,  and  Mendel 
and  Osborne,  and  the  additional  "  vitamine  "  factors 
in  diet — a  distantly  related  topic,  but  not  to  be  confused 
with  the  amino-acid  factor, — have  been  put  on  a  firm 
foundation  by  the  labors  of  Funk,  Hopkins  and 
McCollum. 

There  seems  to  be  some  foundation  for  the  fact  that 
the  opening  up  of  the  Rockefeller  Institute  in  New  York 
City  gave  German  scientists  some  very  unpleasant 
moments.  They  were  afraid  that  an  institute,  devoted 
entirely  to  research,  and  manned  by  talent  second  to 
none,  would  soon  outstrip  any  university,  where  of 
necessity  teaching,  aside  from  research,  required  much 
attention.  This  led  Ostwald,  Nernst  and  Fischer  to 
start  an  agitation  for  the  endowment  of  some  similar 
institute  in  Germany.  The  Kaiser  gave  the  full  weight 
of  his  authority  to  the  scheme,  and  by  his  exertions 
managed  to  get  considerable  sums  from  wealthy  Ger- 
mans. The  Research  Institute  at  Berlin — Dahlem  was 
the  result. 

The  initial  meeting  to  celebrate  the  formation  of  the 
Kaiser  Wilhelm-Gesellschaft  zur  Forderung  der  Wissen- 
schaften  was  held  at  the  offices  of  the  Ministry  of 
Education  in  Berlin,  on  Jan.  n,  1911. 

The  principal  address,  Recent  Advances  and  Prob- 
lems in  Chemistry,  was  delivered  by  Prof.  Fischer. 

With  a  graceful  tribute  to  the  far-sighted  policy  of 
the  Germans  in  encouraging  science,  Fischer  proceeded 
to  show  that  such  encouragement  brought  its  own  reward. 
Up  to  191 1  sixty  percent  of  the  total  number  of  Nobel 
prizes  in  chemistry  had  gone  to  Germans.1 

1  It  needs  perhaps  to  be  emphasized  here  that,  as  Fischer  him- 
self admits,  this  excellent  German  showing  is  not  the  result  of 
superior  German  intelligence,  but  purely  the  result  of  far  greater 

234 


EMIL  FISCHER 

Fischer  next  briefly  reviewed  the  important  contri- 
butions of  the  chemist  to  our  knowledge  of  the  three 
classes  of  foodstuffs,  the  development  of  the  dye  in- 
dustry, the  methods  of  extracting  nitrogen  from  the  air 
for  use  as  fertilisers,  and  the  manufacture  of  artificial 
indigo,  india-rubber,  camphor  and  "  baekalite."  l  "  The 
beakers  and  flasks  of  the  scientific  investigator,"  added 
Fischer,  with  a  twinkle  which  always  delighted  his 
students,  "  are  minute  when  compared  with  the  vats 
employed  by  the  chemical  manufacturer.  This  relative 
difference  in  size  is  also  borne  out  by  the  comparative 
wealth  of  these  two  classes  of  men." 

Turning  to  plant  and  pharmaceutical  products,  Fischer 
proceeded  to  exhibit  a  sample  of  pure  chlorophyll, — the 
work  of  Willstatter — and  drugs  such  as  veronal  and 
caffeine — both  the  products  of  Fischer's  genius.  Then 
came  this  characteristic  comment:  "  One  tenth  of  this 
quantity  [of  veronal]  would  suffice  to  send  this  entire 
gathering  into  a  peaceful  slumber.  But  should  the  mere 
demonstration  of  this  soporific — coupled  with  this  lec- 
ture of  mine — take  effect  on  any  susceptible  persons 
present,  there  is  no  better  remedy  than  the  cup  of  tea 
which  we  are  to  enjoy  later,  for  tea — and  coffee — 
contains  a  chemical  substance  [caffeine]  which  stimu- 
lates the  heart  and  nervous  system." 

government  encouragement  than  is  given  elsewhere.  In  England, 
France,  and  to  a  large  extent,  in  our  own  country,  the  chemist — 
and  the  scientist  generally — received  no  attention  from  statesmen 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war.  The  disgraceful  remunera- 
tion offered  at  colleges,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  the  poor  facilities 
offered  for  research,  have  retarded  every  effort,  and  have  resulted 
in  the  loss  to  universities  of  some  of  their  best  minds.  This  was 
before  the  war.  Perhaps  things  will  change  now.  Perhaps. 

iThis  last  is  the  discovery  of  Dr.  Baekeland  of  New  York. 
The  "  baekalite,"  as  is  now  well  known,  resembles  amber,  and  is 
used  for  such  articles  as  necklaces,  combs,  cigar-holders,  etc. 

235 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

"  Caffeine,"  proceeded  Fischer,  "  was  now  obtained 
largely  from  uric  acid,  which,  in  its  turn  is  a  constituent 
of  guano.1  The  chemist  may  apply  to  such  substances 
the  remark  made  by  the  Emperor  Vespasian  concerning 
the  tax-money  which  came  to  him  from  an  unclean 
source:  non  elet  (it  does  not  smell)." 

A  sample  of  adrenalin,  the  active  constituent  of  the 
suprarenal  glands,  which  plays  such  an  important  part 
in  the  regulation  of  blood  pressure,  was  also  exhibited 
and  its  value  discussed,  and  with  characteristic  German 
egotism,  its  isolation,  chemical  composition,  as  well  as 
its  synthetic  production,  were  claimed  for  Germans. 
Not  a  word  was  said  of  Abel,  of  Johns  Hopkins,  the 
pioneer  in  this  field,  nor,  while  touching  on  the  fasci- 
nating chapter  of  "  hormones,"  or  body  regulators,  was 
any  mention  made  of  the  two  immortals  and  insepar- 
ables, Bayliss  and  Starling,  of  University  College, 
London.  However,  what  followed  smacks  of  the  now 
celebrated  "  2  and  75  percent."  "  A  skin  surface 
well  charged  with  blood — as  for  instance  a  red  nose — 
is  instantly  rendered  quite  pale  on  painting  it  with  such 
a  solution."  "  Unfortunately,"  proceeded  Fischer,  amid 
the  shrieks  of  the  audience,  "  it  does  not  last." 

Next,  and  the  last  among  the  list  of  drugs,  came  the 
"  606,"  or  salvarsan,  the  great  discovery  of  Ehrlich, 
who,  by  the  way,  composed  one  of  the  audience  at  this 
lecture. 

The  final  phase  of  the  discourse  dwelt  upon  the  re- 
markable development  of  the  synthetic  scents,  which, 
even  in  1911,  gave  rise  to  a  production  of  over  ten 
million  dollars'  worth,  and  which  is  now  a  serious  com- 
petitor of  natural  flowers.  A  sample  of  ionone,  the 
artificial  violet  scent,  contained  enough  material,  we 

1  Uric  acid  is  as  important  and  characteristic  an  excrement  of 
birds  as  is  urea  of  man. 

236 


EMU  FISCHER 

are  told,  "  to  envelop  the  entire  avenue,  Unter  den 
Linden,1  in  an  atmosphere  of  violet  perfume."  Samples 
showing  scents  of  lily-of-the-valley,  mock-orange,  lilac, 
and,  the  greatest  achievement  of  all,  synthetic  attar  of 
roses,  were  also  displayed.  This  last  was  truly  a 
triumph  of  the  chemist's  skill.  The  natural  oil  from 
roses  contains  no  less  than  twenty  different  substances. 
These  were  all  isolated,  then  synthesised,  and  finally 
reunited  in  just  those  proportions  which  give  us  the 
pleasant  odor  of  the  much-prized  rose. 

Fischer's  researches  into  the  carbohydrates,  purines 
and  proteins,  is  of  such  enormous  importance  that,  at 
the  repeated  requests  of  the  scientific  public,  they  were 
published  in  book  form  in  three  bulky  volumes,  the  first, 
Untersuchungen  Uber  Amino-Sauren,  Polypeptide  und 
Proteine  (1899-1906),  dealing  with  the  proteins,  the 
second,  Untersuchungen  in  der  Purin  Gruppe  (1882- 
1906),  with  the  purines,  and  the  third,  Untersuchungen 
liber  Kohlenhydrate  und  Fermente  (1884-1908),  with 
the  carbohydrates  and  enzymes.  It  is  certain  that  in 
organic  chemistry  no  three  volumes  of  such  far-reaching 
influence  have  ever  before  been  published. 

Fischer's  most  recent  work  dealt  much  with  the 
tannins,  substances  that  play  an  important  part  in  leather 
manufacture. 

Fischer's  work,  his  influence  as  teacher  and  inspirer 
of  men,  raised  the  Berlin  chemical  laboratory  to  the 
first  position  among  the  chemical  laboratories  of  the 
world.  His  fame  attracted  students  from  every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and  these  flocked  in  such  numbers  to  him 
that  they  soon  counted  in  the  hundreds,  and  special 
privat-docenten  had  to  be  appointed  to  take  care  of 
them.  It  thus  came  about  that  many  of  the  men  who 

1  Berlin's  principal  thoroughfare. 

237 


EMINENT  CHEMISTS  OF  OUR  TIME 

had  gone  to  Berlin  to  work  under  Fischer  in  reality 
worked  under  some  of  Fischer's  privat-docenten,  and, 
outside  of  the  lectures,  probably  did  not  see  Fischer 
himself  more  than  two  or  three  times  during  their  three 
or  four  years1  stay  in  the  German  capital.  At  one  time 
or  another  H.  Gideon  Wells,  the  excellent  pathologist  of 
Chicago  University,  T.  B.  Osborne,  of  the  Connecticut 
Experimental  Station,  and  the  foremost  authority  on 
vegetable  proteins,  and  P.  A.  Levene,  D.  D.  Van  Slyke, 
and  W.  A.  Jacobs,  the  well-known  physiological  chemists 
of  the  Rockefeller  Institute,  were  his  students.  Of 
his  many  pupils  Fischer  considered  Emil  Abderhalden, 
now  professor  of  physiology  at  Halle  University,  a  Swiss 
by  birth,  the  most  gifted. 

Fischer's  death  is  an  irreparable  loss  to  science.  He 
is  so  much  of  our  generation  that  one  hesitates  to  use 
superlatives,  but  one  is  sorely  tempted  to  speak  of  him 
as  the  greatest  organic  chemist  of  all  times. 

References 

Part  of  the  material  has  been  obtained  from  private 
sources.  The  account  of  Fischer  in  the  Nobel  volume 
(i)  has  been  of  great  service.  Fischer's  work  on  purines, 
carbohydrates  and  proteins  has  been  published  in  book 
form  (2,  3,  4).  His  address  to  the  members  of  the 
English  chemical  society  (5)  contains  much  of  interest. 
See  also  6.  A  summary  of  Fischer's  work  on  tannins 
has  appeared  in  English  (7).  Enzymes  are  discussed  in 
Dr.  Harrow's  article  (8). 

1.  Anon.:   Hermann  Emil  Fischer.    Les  Prix  Nobel  (Stockholm), 

1902,  p.  58. 

2.  Emil  Fischer:   Untersuchungen  in  der  Puringruppe,  1882-1906 

(Julius  Springer,  Berlin.     1907). 

3.  Emil  Fischer:    Untersuchungen  iiber  Kohlenhydrate  und  Fer- 

mente,  1884-1908  (Julius  Springer,  Berlin.    1909). 
238 


EMIL  FISCHER 

4.  Emil  Fischer:   Untersuchungen  u'ber  Aminosauren,  Polypeptide 

und  Proteine,  1899-1906  (Julius  Springer,  Berlin.    1906). 

5.  Emil  Fischer:   Synthetical  Chemistry  in  its  Relation  to  Biology. 

Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society  (London),  91 ,  1749  (1907). 

6.  Emil  Fischer:    Recent  Advances  and  Problems  in  Chemistry. 

Nature  (London),  85,  558  (1911). 

7.  Emil  Fischer:    Synthesis  of  Depsides,  Lichin-Substances  and 

Tannins.    Journal  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  36, 
1170  (1914). 

8.  Benjamin  Harrow:    What  are  Enzymes?    Scientific  Monthly, 

March  (1918),  p.  253. 


239 


INDEX 


Names  of  persons  are  printed  in  italics. 


Abderhalden,  233,  234,  238 

Abegg,  130* 

Abel,  236 

Abraham,  115 

Acetoacetic  ester,  12 

Acetylene,  136 

Acheson,  148 

Adrenalin,  236 

Agassiz,  213 

Aldehydes,  221 

Alizarin,  8,  12 

Althoff,  190 

Alum  in  baking  powders,  213 

Aluminum,  149 

Amino  acids,  230,  234 

Anderson,  44 

Aniline,  6 

Aniline  purple.    See  mauve. 

Anthracene,  9 

Argo,  145 

Argon,  48,  144 

Armstrong,  E.  F.,  233 

Armstrong,  H.  E.,  13 
Anhenius,  XII,  XIV,  91,  92,  93, 
95,  99,  i H-I33,  153,  167,  168 
Art,  Mendeleeff  on,  34 
Asymmetric    carbon   atom,   93. 

See  stereo-chemistry. 
Atomic  theory,  165.    See  Dai- 
ton. 
Atomic  weights,  24,  25,  62-64, 

66,  67,  68,  69,  70 
Atoms  in   Space,   Structure   of 
(book  by  van'tiHoff),  85-88, 


Auwers,  191 
Avogadro,  XI,  XIV,  64 
Ayrton,  Mrs.  Hertha,  168 

Badische  Analin-und-Soda-Fab- 

rik,  6,  15 
Baekeland,  14,  235 
Baeyer,  frontispiece,  6,  15,  100, 
101,  180,  181,  183,  184,  185, 
190,  191,  193,  217,  219,  220, 
221,  223 

Baeyer  factory,  8 
Baker,  145 
Balard,  142 
Bancroft,  93,  102,  105,  108,  122, 

130 

Baxter,  69 
Bayliss,  236 
Bechamp,  6 
Beclere,  139 
Becquerel,  160,  161,  168 
Behring,  von,  97,  129 
Behal,  14 

Beilstein,  frontispiece,  15 
Benjamin,  215 
Benzene,  12 

Benzoate  of  soda,  212,  213 
Bernstein,  178,  179 
Bernthsen,  15,  70 
Berthelot,  35,  50,  115,  13^,  144, 

150 

Berthollet,  135,  218 
Bertrand,  56 
Berzelius,  70,  99 


240 


INDEX 


Biltz,  70 

Biological  chemistry,  128-129 

Bluntschlij  184 

Bodenstein,  130 

Bolley,  181 

Boltwood,  163 

Boltzmann,  120,  135 

Bouis,  145 

Boy/e,  XI,  XIV 

Brandt,  23 

Brauner,  70 

Bredig,  74,  93 

Brooke,  Rupert,  217 

firi/W,  12,  15 

Buchka,  187 

Buchner,  70,  217,  227 

Buckle,  89 

Bunsen,   23,  178,  179,  190,  191 

192,  193,  219,  233 
Burton,  210 
Butler  ow,  24,  223 
flyron,  39,  83,  87,  98 

Caffeine,  222,  229,  235,  236 
Cahours,  150 
Com,  18 

Co/of,  Ramon  y,  151 
Calcium  carbide,  136,  148 
Cambon,  106 

CannizzarOi  XI,  XIV,  15,  24,  64 
Carbohydrates.    See  sugars 
Carborundum,  148 
Caro,  9,  15 
Catalyst,  226 
Cathode  rays,  160 ' 
Cayley,  31 
Chancourtois,  29 
Chandler,  16,  103,  104,  197 
Chaudhuri,  58 

Chemical  constitution  and  physi- 
cal properties,  12 


Chemical   Dynamics    (book  by 
van't  Hoff),  80,  90-92,  93 

Chevreul,  35,  218 

Chit  tendon,  212 

Chlorophyll,  235 

Ciamician,  15,  130 

Clarke*,  105 

Classification  period  (in  chem- 
istry), XI 

Clausius,  n,  115,  116, 117 

Cleve  112,  116,  117 

Coal  tar,  4,  u,  13 

Coal  tar  dyes,  3-8 

Cohen,  E.,  93,  95,  102,  108,  120, 
132 

Cohn,  G.,  183 

Cooke,  60,  61,  62,  65,  197 
,      Copernicus,  35 

Copley  medal,  31,  150 

Cossa,  fronitspiece 

Coumarin,  iz,  12 

Courtois,  142 

Crafts,  1 08 

Crawford,  176 

Crookes,  3,  49,  154,  160,  164, 
217,  225 

Cunningham,  176 

Curie,  Madame,  XHI,  XIV,  29, 
147,  155-176 

Curie,  P.,  135, 159, 168, 169-170, 

*72 
Cushman,  69 

Dahlgren,  170 

Dakin,  224,  233 

Dalton,  XI,  Xm,  XIV,  64,  100, 

in,  165 
Dana,  208 
Darwin,  17,  29,  117 
#<">#,  93,  143,  168 
-      Davy  medal,  13,  26,  31,  50,  75, 

93,  150 
241 


INDEX 


Dawson,  130 

Day,  105 

Debienne,  163. 

Debray,  144 

Deherain,  138,  139,  140 

Demuth,  191 

Descartes,  35 

Deventer,  van,  93,  120, 130 

Devitte,  St.-Claire,  135,  141 

-De  F"0,  57 

Dewar,  144 

Diamond,  artificial  production 
of,  136,  146-148 

Disintegration  theory  (of  ra- 
dium), 164 

Dissociation,  theory  of  electro- 
lytic, in,  113-119,  121-123, 
130-131 

Ditte,  150 

Dixon,  72,  145 

Dluska,  175 

Dobbie,  44,  45,  56 

Dobereiner,  25 

Domidoff  prize,  24 

Doremus,  199 

Dorp,  van,  180 

Duisberg,  15 

Dumas,  25,  35,  135,  140,  233 

Duppa,  12 

Eb  stein,  189 

Edlung,  112,  118,  124 

Ehrhardt,  15 

Ehrlich,  129,  159,  217,  236 

Electric  furnace.    See  furnace, 

electric 
Electrolytic    dissociation.      See 

dissociation,  theory  of 
Electrons,  160,  163 
Eliot,  108,  197 
Energy  of  the  future,  165 
Engelbach,  219 


Enzymes,  97,  225-228,  231 
Erlenmeyer,  178,  193 
Etard,  139 
£uter,  130 

Evaporation  and  dissociation 
(Ramsay  and  Young),  46 
Ewan,  93 
Eykman,  93,  120 

Fahlberg,  215 

Fajans,  74 

ttz/fc,  128 

Faraday,  8,  12,  35,  76,  113 

Faraday  medal,  31,  50,  72,  130, 
232 

Fats,  218 

Fehling,  180 

Fenton,  223 

Ferguson,  44 

Ferments.    See  enzymes 

Fischer,  E.,  XIII,  XIV,  13,  24, 
70,  94,  98,  99,  128,  191,  193, 
194,  217-239 

Fischer,  H.,  224 

Fischer,  O.,  185,  221,  222 

Fittig,  42,  43,  204 

Fitzgerald,  47 

Fluorine,  136,  142-145 

Folin,  71,  233 

Food.  See  fats,  carbohydrates, 
proteins,  amino  acids,  vita- 
mine. 

Foote,  147 

Foster,  135 

Foundation  period  (in  chem- 
istry), XI 

Franklin,  197 

Franklin  medal,  75 

Fremy,  138,  143,  144 

Fried  el,  150 

Friedlander,  14 

Fuchsine.    See  magenta 


242 


INDEX 


Funk,  234 

Furnace,  electric,  136,  146,  147, 

148,  150 
Fyfe,  57 

Gabriel,  70 
Galileo,  33 
Garett,  40 
Gases  of  the  atmosphere.  See 

inert  gases  of  the  atmosphere 
Gattennann,  187,  191 
Gautier,  14,  145, 149 
Gay-Lussac,  117,  123, 135,  143 
Gegenbauer,  150 
Geikie,  150 
Germanium,  28,  29 
Gibbs,  Willard,  97 
Gibbs  (Willard)  medal,  75,  132, 

214 
Gibbs,  Wolcot,  61,  72,  108,  197, 

199 
Gibbs  (Wolcot)  Laboratory,  72, 

73 

Gilder  sleeve,  207 
Gilman,  207,  209 
Gladstone,  12 
Glucosides,  228 
Glycine.    See  glycocoll 
Glycocoll,  12,  230 
Goldenberg,  32 
Goldschmidt,  93,  186 
Gotyi,  151 
Goodwin,  107 

Graebe,  9,  70,  180,  183,  193,  220 
Graham,  35,  42 
Gray,  55 
Green,  18 
Grimaux,  150 
Guanine,  222 
Guldberg,  45,  130 
Gunning,  57 


Hole,  104 

/fa//,  C.  M.,  149 

Hall,  T.,  2 

Holler,  14 

Hamburger,  130 

Hantzsch,  186 

Harcourt,  52 

Harden,  194 

/fare,  197 

Harrow,  195,  239 

Hasselberg,  54 

Hastings,  17 

Hehner,  56 

Helium,    49,  50,  53,  I44i  163, 

166 
Helmholtz,  98, 99, 122, 124, 125, 

126,  178,  190,  233 
Helmholtz  medal,  98 

Hempel,  65 

Henderson,  L.  J.,  69 

Hermann,  87 

Herter,  212 

/ferfy,  210 

/ferfc,  6 

/feyse,  185 

/fi//,6i,  108 

Hillebrand,  W.  F.,  16,  48, 105 

/fifziff,  183 

/f/e/f,  frontispiece 

tfq^,  van'/,  frontispiece,  XII, 
XIV,  37,  39,  45,  47,  70-109, 
in,  114,  118,  119,  120,  121, 
123,  131,  132,  158,  168,  188, 
219,223,224 

Hoff,  van't,  in  America,  102-108 

Hofmann,  3,  7,  178,  190,  225 

Hofmann  medal,  13,  151 

Hopkins,  234 

Hortsmann,  122 

Hubner,  185 

Huggins,  31 

Huxley,  88,  117,  122,  127,  207 

243 


INDEX 


Hydroxylamine,  221 

Iinmuno-chemistry,  129 

Indigo,  267 

Indol,  222 

Inert  gases  of  the  atmosphere, 
48,  52,  144.  See  argon,  hel- 
ium, neon,  xenon,  krypton 

Inorganic  chemistry,  XII 

lonization.  See  dissociation, 
theory  of  electrolytic 

Jackson,  61,  108 

Jacobs,  238 

Jacob son,  igi 

Joffe,  1 80 

John,  98 

James,  137,  138 

Jannasch,  65,  187,  191 

Johnson,  S.  W.,  197 

Johnson,  T.  B.,  233 

Jones,  Grinnel,  69 

Jones,  H.  C.,  98,  102,  104,  109, 

122,  130, 132,  210 
Jones,  W.,  233 
Jorgsneen,  frontispiece,  15 
Joule,  100 
Jungfleisch,  150 

Kohlenberg,  122 

Kappeler,  181,  184, 186 

Kayser,  50 

Kekule,  XIV,   82,  84,  186,  193, 

219 
Kelvin,  14,42,50,124,126,  168, 

174 

Ketones,  221 
Kirchhoff,  178,  190 
Klaudy,  101 
Klein,  185 
Klingeman,  15 
Knox,  143 


Koch,  7 
Kohler,  210 
Kohlrausch,  118 
Kolbe,  87,  88,  89,  93 
Konig,  185 
Kopp,  178,  182,  193 
Kossel,  98,  128,  233 
Kouindji,  34 
Kropotkin,  33 
Krypton,  52 
Kundt,  93 
Kutorga,  23 

Lactic  acid,  224 

Ladenburg,  frontispiece,  37,  70, 

183 

Lampe,  70 

Landolt,  frontispiece,  70,  98 
Langevin,  169,  176 
Lavoisier,  XI,  XIV,  35,  71,  92, 

135 

Lavoisier  medal,  14 
Law  of  mass  action,  130 
Lead.    See  radioactive  lead 
Lebeau,  153,  1 54 
Le  Bel,  XIV,  80,85,86,93,150, 

223 

Le  Blanc,  130 
Le  Chatelier,  130,  145,  149 
Lecoq  de  Boisboudron,  n 
Lembert,  74 
Lemoine,  145 
Lenard,  150 
Lenz,  23 
Leuckardt,  187 
Levene,  233,  238  '» 
Lewis,  69 
Liebermann,  9,  15,  70,  180,  183, 

190,  193,  195,  220 
Liebig,   XII,  123,  203,  219,  221 
Life,  origin,  of,  125-128 
Lippmann,  158,  159 


244 


INDEX 


Lisset,  17 

Lister,  150 

Lockyer,  49,  50 

Lodge,  121,  174 

Loeb,  J.,  102,  103,  119,  127,  128 

Loeb,  M.,  72 

Long,  212 

Longs  faff  medal,  52 

Lorentz,  231 

Louyet,  143 

Lowry,  65 

Ludwig,  180 

Lugan,  141 

Lunge,  15 

224 

117 


McCollum,  234 

McKee,  210 

Maeterlinck,  170 

Mahlmann,  187 

Magenta,  7,  221 

Mallet,  197 

Maltby,  103 

Mai  thus,  117 

Morass  e,  180 

Marconi,  6 

Matter,  structure  of,  165 

Mauve,  XIV,  4,  1  1 

Meldola,  13,  14,  16,  17 

Mendel,  234 

Mendeleeff,    frontispiece,    XII, 

XIV,  19-40,  5i»  i"i  135 
Meyer,  L.,  29 
Meyer,  R.,  195 
Meyer,    K.,  XH,  XIV,  44,  65, 

145*  i77-i95»  220,  221,  224 
Meyer  and  Jacobson's  "  Lehr- 

buch"  (book),  188 
Meyer  hoffer,  93,  96,  97 
Michael,  108 
Michler,  183 


Millikan,  65 

Milner,  205 

Mitscherlich,  35 

Moissan,   #.,   XH,   XIH,   XIV, 

131*  135-154 

Moissan,  L.,  142,  152,  153 
Molwo,  17 
Mommsen,  231 
Morgan,  122 
Morner,  45 
Morris,  78 

Morse,  104,  208,  210 
Moseley,  XII,  XTV,  64,  65,  217 
Munsterberg,  108 

Ate/,  102,  105, 107 

Neon,  52 

Nernst,  16,  70,  234 

Newlands,  25,  26,  116 

Newton,  35 

McAo/s,  16 

Nieme,  15 

Niton,  55,  166 

Nitrobenzene,  6 

Nitro  compounds  in  the  ali- 
phatic series,  181,  183 

Afofce/  prize,  53,  75,  77,  97,  131, 
151,  169,  170,  231,  232,  234 

Norris,  210 

Noyes,  A.  A.,  95,  122 

Noyes,  W.  A.,  210 

Nucleoproteins,  229 

Oil  fields  in  Baku,  30 

Organic  chemistry,  XII,  217,  218 

Ormdorff,  210 

Osazone  test  for  sugars,  220 

Osborne,  234,  238 

Osmotic  pressure,  92 

Ostrogradsky,  23 

Ostwald,  XH,  41,  47,  58,  67,  92, 

Il6,    117,    Il8,    120,    121,    122, 

130,  131.  132,  I45»  I53i  234 


245 


INDEX 


Oudeman,  82 

Panspennia,  124 

Pasteur,  79,  159,  194,  226,  227 

Pavloff,  19,  54 

Pellew,  103,  104 

Periodic  law.    See  periodic  sys- 
tem 

Periodic  system,  XII,  19,  25-29, 
30,  31,  40,  64 

Perkin,  A.  G.,  17 

Perkin,  G.  F.,  2 

Perkin,  W.  H.,  XH,  XIV,  1-18, 
36, 135,  220,  221,  225,  230,  233 

Perkin  medal,  16 

Perkin  (jun).,  W.  H.,  17 

Perkin's  synthesis,  n 

Perrin,  169 

Petroleum,  origin  of,  148 

Pe  tier  son,  54 

Pettijohn,  103 

Pfeffer,  92 

Phase  rule,  97 

Phenylhydrazine,  220,  221,  224 

Physical  chemistry,  47 

Physico-chemical  period   (in 
chemistry),  XH 

Physiological  chemistry.    See 
biological  chemistry 

Pickering,  108 

Pinner,  70 

Pirogoff,  23 

Pitchblende,  161 

Planck,  70,  94 

Pletnoff,  22 

Plimmer,  233 

Plique,  138 

Poincare,  159,  170 

Polonium,  162,  174 

Polstorff,  187 

Polypeptids,  231 

Pomeroy,  13 


Priestley,  197 

Principles  of  Chemistry   (book 

by  Mendeleeff),  29 
Proteins,  218,  229,  230,  231,  233 
Punch,  8 
Purin,  229 

Quincke,  191 

Radiation  pressure,  124 
Radioactive  lead,  74,  75 
Radio-activity,  XIII,  53,  ^55. 

See  radium 
Radium,  53,  123,  160-169.    See 

radio-activity 

Radium  emanation.    See  niton 
Raleigh,  XIV,  31,  48,  50,  54,  76, 

117 
Ramsay,  frontispiece,  XII,  XIV, 

16,  29,  36,  41-58,  74>  98,  122, 

131,  144,  151,  153,  154,  158, 
,   163,  168,  174,  204,  205,  217, 
f  224,  232 
Raoult,  92,  100,  112,  117,  119, 

123 
Rare  gases  of  the  atmosphere. 

See  inert  gases  of  the  atmos- 
phere 
Reed,  210 
Regnault,  23 
Reicher,  93,  120 
Remsen,  XIII,  XIV,  16,  55,  105, 

114, 197-215 
Reusch,  43 

Reymond  du  Bois,  179 
Richards,  H.  M.,  59 
Richards,  T.  W.,  XII,   XIV,   29, 

59-78,  95,  102,  107,  108,  122 
Richards,  W.  T.,  59 
Riess,  152 
Rilliet,  181 
Rockefeller,  106,  107 


246 


INDEX 


Rockefeller  Institute,  234 

Romburgh,  14 

Rontgen,  97,  150,  160 

Roosevelt,  108,  211 

Rosaniline,  7 

Roscoe,  233 

Rose,  35  219 

Roses,  oil  of.  See  scents,  syn- 
thetic 

Ross,  231 

Roux,  126 

Rowland,  207 

Royal  College  of  Science,  2 

Royal  medal,  u,  31,  150 

Rumford  medal,  150 

Rupe,  14 

Ruprecht,  23 

Rutherford,  75,  163,  164,  166, 
176 

Sabatier,  149 

Saccharin,  208 

Sandmeyer,  186 

Sawitsch,  23 

Scents,  synthetic,  236,  237 

Schafer,  127 

Scnar,  181 

Scheele,  142,  143 

Scnzff,  15 

Schmidt,  120 

Sc  hot  ten,  14 

Schukenberger,  57 

Schulze,  181 

Schurman,  105 

Schutzenberger,  150 

Shields,  45 

Side-chain  theory,  129 

Siredey,  139 

Sklodowski,  156,  175 

S/yfce,  Z>.  D.  van,  128,  233,  238 

Smith,  A.,  106, 107, 109, 132, 176 

Smifn,  £.  F.,  197 


Smith,  T.,  122 

Smifn,  W.,  193 

Smithells,  47 

Soddy,  53,  58,  74,  75,  95,  163, 

164,  176 
Sokoloff,  19 
Solution,  van'/  /fo^s  theory  of, 

92,98 
Solutions    (book     by     Mende- 

leeff),  22 

Sonnenschein,  177 
Specific  volumes,  23 
Spottiswoode,  31 
•S^rma,  93 
Starling,  236 
Sfas,  64,  70 
Stassfurt  deposits,  van'*  Hojf's 

work  on,  96,  97 
Stereo-chemistry,  79,  80,  85-88, 

89,  93,  188 
Stieglitz,  106,  132 
Stock,  153,  154 
Stockton,  60 
Strecker,  204 
Sugars,  218,  220,  221,  222-224, 

225,  228 
Surface  tension  and  molecular 

weight  (Ramsay  and  Shields), 

47 
Sylvester,  207 

Takayama,  15 
Tammann,  130 
Tannin,  237 
Tartaric  acid,  12 
Taylor,  130,  212 
TTiee/,  232 
Thenard,  143 
Theobromine,  222,  229 
Thiophene,  184,  187 
Thomson,  116,  151,  160,  165 
Thorium,  161 


247 


INDEX 


Thorpe,  frontispiece,   40,    191, 

194, 195 
Tiemann,  98 
Tilden,  40,  58, 130,  214 
Toll  ens,  190 

Toxin  and  anti-toxin,  129 
Transmutation  of  elements,  53, 

166 

Traube,  92 
Trovers,  52 

Triphenylmethane,  222 
Troost,  150 
Trowbridge,  108 
Tyrian  purple.    See  mauve 

Uranium,  160 

Urea,  XIV 

Uric  acid,  222,  229,  236 

Valson,  117 

van't  Hoff.    See  Hoff,  van't 

Vapor  Density  (Victor  Meyer's 

method,)  183 
V enable,  40 
Verguin,  7 
Veronal,  235 
Vesque,  139,  140 
Vitamine,  234 
Volhard,  203 
Vries,  Hugo  de,  131,  153 

Waage,  130 
Walden,  40 


Wallace,  29 
Wallach,  84,  186,  191 
Walter,  139 
Warburg,  70 
Ward,  135 
Watts,  103, 194 
Wegscheider,  130 

,  #.  Gideon,  238 

,  W.,  103 
z,  162 
Wiley,  16,212 
Will,  14,  98 
Williamson,  117 
Willstatter,  220,  235 
WinJder,  frontispiece,  28 
Ms//cem/s,  79,  86,  87,  89,  181 
Witt,  70,  98 
Witte,  32 
Wohler,  XH,  XIV,  185, 203, 204, 

205,  219 
Woskrensky,  23 
burster,  181,  182 
Wurtz,  57,  85,  233 

X-rays,  160, 164 
Xanthine,  222 
Xenon,  52 

Young,  45 

Zeeman,  231 
Zincke,  219 


248 


14  DAY  USE 

TO  DESK  PROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


B3tt«SKfeJ«I 


CIRCULATION  DEPT. 


LD21A-40m-8,'71 
(P6572slO)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


LD21-100m-7,'39(402s) 


re  (7050 

U.  C  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


